Life With Julie

Cannon Beach 2011 - Day Three

2011-06-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

On Thursday - our last full day at the beach - was spent mostly on the beach. We went back to the place we took our wedding photos to snap some with Elli. I set up the tripod to get a photo of all three of us like we got for our wedding. :) Next year there will be one more! :)

Sorry this post is mostly photos. I need to take notes on vacation so I can remember what to blog about! :)

Such a happy girl running through the sand!

The us shot we always have to get.

Max was in heaven!

After running on the beach, the kiddos ran some more in the grass!

We had lunch at Bill's Tavern and enjoyed sitting outside so Max could join us! Ray enjoyed one of their brews while I enjoyed more water and another salad.

After naptime we went back out to the beach to check out the tide pools. Elli wanted to hold Max's leash so she had a blast walking him. She laughed and giggled the entire time!

The tide pools were pretty cool - next year will probably be more exciting for Elli. She did slip here and hit her head on a rock - at least she didn't fall too hard!

I have no idea why she is super grump here but it was making me laugh.

I love these shots. She goes from super happy....

to sad face...

to hiding her face and crying...oh so dramatic!

This girl could've spent hours in this freezing water! Her legs starting getting red she was so cold yet she still didn't want to go inside!

This night for dinner we tried out the new mexican restaurant in town. It was very slow - we were the only people there when we showed up at 6pm but the food was pretty good. I even bought the family dinner with my Scentsy money! :)

Cannon Beach 2011 - Day Two

2011-06-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we took our time getting ready and out the door to enjoy the town. We did a little window shopping still since most of the stores don't open until 10am. While walking we stopped at this place, on of the only open, Bella Espresso. With all the years we have been coming here we never stopped here...we were missing out! I enjoyed a little coffee and Ray got this delicious cinnamon roll!

We spent most of the day just walking around town shopping - my favorite thing to do! :) We love Bruce's Candy Kitchen and got some yummy candy! They had an adorable clock that was perfect for Elli's room but I didn't want to spend $45 on a hand painted piece of wood...I guess I'm a little cheap.

We stopped at lunch at a new place in downtown - Cheri's Cafe. It was a nice lunch with a lot of beautiful artwork all over the walls. All the prints and paintings and art were for sale also so was like more lunch while shopping! :)

This was my lunch at Cheri's - a shrimp melt with a side salad - DELISH! The roll the shrimp melt was on was fresh and homemade at the store and really made the sandwich!

I had fun putting hats on Elli - she didn't enjoy it as much though.

Oh how I love this girl! She played in this fountain for close to 20 minutes!

Time to walk the beach!

This was right before a huge wave came in and drenched us! Elli didn't care about being cold though! She didn't want to get out of the water!

One of my favorite purchases of the trip! These handmade aprons are sewn by a 91 year old woman! This one was adorable and perfect to do some baking with my Elli!

Cannon Beach 2011 - Day One

2011-06-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

We go to Cannon Beach, OR every year to celebrate our anniversary. We started going in 2006 as a birthday present for Ray and after going in 2006 and 2007 we decided it was the perfect place for us to get married! We didn't get to celebrate there in 2009 since I was 8 months pregnant - I didn't want to be in the car for 4 hours!

This year we were especially excited to go because Ell is at such a fun age right now! We left on Tuesday morning about 10am and stopped first at Southcenter to pick up Ray's new ring and lunch. By the time we finished with that it was about noon. The drive there was pretty good. Elli slept for about an hour and woke up when we took a stretch break at a rest stop. She has fun doing everything - even just walking Max around for 5 minutes! The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful - although we did have a few fun times signing and dancing like crazy to Elli's music!

Walking in our front door

We stayed at The Ocean Lodge this year which is a sister property of where we normally stay. And all I could say at first was 'OH MY!' This place was absolutely stunning! Our room was so large! It had a separate bedroom, good size bathroom and a living room with a kitchenette. The view from our room was gorgeous! We were only 10 steps from the beach! Since it was almost 5 by the time we had unpacked we took a quick run to the beach so we could put our toes in the sand! Elli took a few minutes to figure out that she loved it but soon she started shoveling away and burying her 'piggies'.

View from our room!

That night we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Morris' Fireside Restaurant, which is in the heart of downtown. This is where we had dinner with our family after our wedding. Last year I ordered too much food and was uncomfortably stuffed so I played it safe and only ordered clam chowder this year - seriously the best clam chowder I've ever had! Ray had his favorite, fish and chips, and Elli had a grilled cheese sandwich. A great dinner out and very relaxing night.

Vacationing with a little one is a little tougher because we have to be in the room to get Elli to bed so after Elli was down Ray went downstairs to borrow a DVD so we spent the evening in front of the fire and watching 'Due Date'. Our first day was wonderful and I was glad we didn't overdo it when we first got there - it felt nice to relax a bit!

Let the guesses begin! Boy or Girl?

2011-05-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

So I waited as long as I could! We are expecting baby #2 this December! We told our families on Easter but I have been trying to wait to share with everyone...oh boy that was hard!

Things you may have questions about:

I will be 11 weeks tomorrow (June 1st)
Baby 2 is due December 22nd but we will most likely have a C-Section scheduled for December 15th. I thought it would be fun for both kids to be on the 15th of their month. :)
This is the one time in the entire year I didn't want a baby - just shows how much I am NOT in control of my life!
Ray is joking he will need a 2nd job every year just to pay for December - his mom's birthday, new baby birthday, Christmas and my birthday! Will definitely be a busy month!
We have already told family that their Christmas gift is getting to play with our baby!
I took a test at work after I had a 'feeling' most of the previous 2 weeks and that morning almost threw up on the way to work (I don't throw up). So Crystal was the first to know when she came to check on me since I was in the bathroom for almost 20 minutes.
I have had 2 ultrasounds so far and the baby looks very healthy! The 2nd one was today and it is definitely looking like a baby now!
I had been having dreams about having twins but was happy when the Dr said there was only one today. I think twins would be a little too much for us right now!
We were definitely shocked to say the least! We were not planning this - we had wanted a bigger house first! Again, God telling me I am NOT in control!
When we ask Elli if she wants a baby sister or baby brother she always says sister. Let's hope we have a girl to make Princess Elli happy!
Since this my 2nd I am showing much earlier! It feels strange to have a belly already!

That is about it for now. Here are a few photos for you! Feel free to ask me any questions!

Back to the blog!

2011-05-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I know it has been way too long! I was talking with Ray last night and couldn't remember some of the stuff we have done recently and I didn't like that! I told him I had to start blogging again so I can remember what we do with our lives! :) So I am going to try my hardest to share with you so that I can go back later and remind myself of all the wonderful things we do! (sorry there are no photos to go along with the weekend - I gave my parents the camera to take photos of Elli and haven't uploaded them yet)

This weekend Ray and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! It was wonderful to have 3 entire days off together since we usually only have Sundays together. On Saturday the 3 of us spent the day doing some shopping! :) We headed out to the outlets in North Bend, we enjoyed some good lunch (well Ray and I thought so) at the Mongolian Grill. Elli got lots of new clothes because the sales were amazing! We also went to Bass Outlet for the 1st time and glad we did! They were having Buy 1 Get 2 Free on men's and women's shoes so I got a cute pair of wedges, some not too cute but sensible work shoes and Ray got some athletic type sandals. We even got a cute pair of tennies for Elli - all for only $100!! Hooray for sales!! That night I made Ray's favorite meal - Chicken Alfredo Lasagna!

On Sunday we went to church - Elli cried again when we left her at Sunday school! Silly girl! We then dropped Elli off at my parents for her to go to Sequim and visit Great Grandma and Grandpa. She was a good girl, slept the whole ride there! She definitely entertained the family with all her wonderful expressions and the little personality she has! Ray and I then enjoyed lunch at Panda Express and more shopping! We headed to Ikea to get ideas for putting a 'pantry' in our dining area and to make a new closet for Elli's room. I think I found what I want for both things - now we just go back and talk with the design center. We got all new black matching frames to go on our photo wall and a mirror for doing my makeup. Then we headed to Southcenter so I could get a few new shirts and surprise Ray by taking him to Helzberg to get a new ring! He picked one out and we both love it! It should be here in a few weeks since we had to special order it. We then had to hurry home to feed Max and let him out so we could go to dinner. We went to The Flat Iron Grill in Issaquah and it was AMAZING! We haven't had such good food in a long time! We got clams and chorizo as our starter - delish! And then the shared platter that had jumbo prawns, steak, 1/2 chicken and housemade chorizo! It was soooo good! I had been eyeing the desserts but after all that food there was no way I could've eaten any! After dinner we had to call to check up on Elli and tell her goodnight! She was so cute on the phone - I love that girl! While talking with my mom she kept asking for a cookie - she is a cookie monster! Ray and I then headed to Target to get some essentials - like soap and shampoo - exciting I know. We went home hoping to watch Just Go With It but I didn't realize it doesn't come out until next weekend! :( So we bought Love And Other Drugs instead - I was very surprised at it.

This morning we got to sleep in! I slept until almost 9!! It was wonderful! We then did a little work around the house - Ray did TONS of laundry this weekend! I updated our photo frames, I think I slept too much though because I wasn't feeling too well so I wasn't as productive as Ray. We then made a trip to Goodwill and donated a car load of clothes, toys and housewares! It felt so good to get rid of some stuff! We then wandered around Fred Meyer and Michael's for awhile. I'm thinking of signing up for cake decorating classes - it looks like fun! We then went to my parents to pick up the monkey and she was so happy to see us - she wouldn't stop hugging us! Oh it almost made me cry! My mom and I then ran out to get a pedicure together - it was wonderful! The last one I got wasn't too good - we went back to our favorite place and they did a wonderful job! A great end to a great weekend!

Stay tuned for some fun posts coming up!!!

PS - I just finished reading 'Something Borrowed' and 'Something Blue' and 'Water for Elephants'! Now I need to see some movies!! :)

I love Shutterfly!

2010-11-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

I know that there are tons of photo sites out there now but one of my absolute favorites is Shutterfly! I actually started using them because my aunt recommended their photo books. I've used them for a lot of other things, I'm even making a lot of photo gifts with them! Every time I upload new photos to my account I add them to a website I made through them for all my friends and family to see photos of Elli! I have been making a photo calendar for the last few years to have at work, so nice to have those photos to look at every day! If you have never made a photo calendar you need to make one with Shutterfly! Since this is 'Cyber Week' they are having some amazing deals!

And just for posting this blog to share with you how much I truly love Shutterfly, I'm getting 50 free Christmas photo cards! I really do love them, don't think it's just for something free. I'm very excited to get free photo cards as well! If you go to Elli's site, click here, you can see the photo book I made for ~~myself~~ Elli through them!

Go to www.shutterfly.com TODAY and get some amazing specials!!!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

I hope that you all had a wonderful & safe Halloween! Here are a few photos of my adorable garden gnome!!

Busy yet relaxing weekend!

2010-10-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

I know it doesn't really make sense to be busy but relaxing but this weekend was! On Friday night we did nothing! We picked up the house a little bit once Elli was in bed but we were just so happy Friday was here we just vegged!

On Saturday morning we got up and cleaned up a little bit more because the Empire Today guy was coming to our house to talk about new flooring! We found two styles of flooring we like, one is a total of $1700 more than the other, so it depends on how much we think it will affect the worth of our home. I have to contact the HOA and get written approval from them about getting hard surface flooring installed. What's nice about Empire is they do EVERYTHING! They will come in and move our furniture, lay a condo grade pad, install the floor, even install 1/2 round along the baseboard line, give us any that is leftover, put the furniture back and clean up after themselves! This is a big decision that we would definitely be investing in but a matter of when we can afford to get it done. The salesman gave Elli an Empire guy bobblehead and she is sooo scared of it! I got this great video of her being scared! :)
Rhonda them came over and we watched football and Keeping Up With the Kardashian's while Elli finished her nap. We then headed to Old Navy for their 16th birthday! Rhonda and I each got a fleece jacket - only $8 each!! I also got a ruffled henley for $8! There was plenty of stuff I wanted for Elli also but I have a coupon to use for her next week! :) We then headed to Chipotle for an early dinner! We were happy to introduce the amazing-ness to Rhonda - and she loved it!
We have started Saturday night movie night here once Elli goes to bed. This Saturday we watched 'Everybody's Fine'. I am a HUGE Drew Barrymore fan so I was excited to see this. I never knew it would be such a SAD movie! Oh my goodness we cried it was so sad - definitely wasn't what we were expecting!

On Sunday we lounged around for the morning - Ray made fried egg sandwiches for breakfast - yummy!! After Elli got up from her nap we headed out to Bothell. We stopped at Costco first for gas - oh goodness it is always so busy there!! We went to an open house in Bothell - we loved the house - not the yard. The house was recently updated and we loved the layout and most of the upgrades. Almost the perfect house! The back had a HUGE deck with a hot tub. The backyard was actually pretty good size but the layout wasn't good - and it needed A LOT of work! You could also stand on the deck by the kitchen and the master bedroom and look directly into the neighbor's house and their NASTY backyard! We then headed over to Mill Creek to use our Groupon at Frost. This was a place I had never heard of before but when I saw the Groupon I thought it would be a good treat if we ever did look at a house in Bothell. We got a dozen mixed doughnuts for only $8! Frost is in a new shopping center in Mill Creek and we were impressed! This shopping center is almost enough to really move to the area!! They have a lot of unique flavors to choose from. We ate the Bacon Maple Bar and the White Chocolate Truffle ones tonight for dessert and YUM YUM! They aren't too sugary sweet like Krispy Kreme - my teeth didn't hurt from eating them! :) I'm excited to try the Red Velvet and Salted Caramel - Ray got the Aztec Chocolate. I'm pretty sad that they were out of the Pumpkin flavor since Pumpkin is my favorite but just an excuse to go back in a few months. :) After that we stopped at Hyundai in Kirkland to view some cars. We had originally planned on buying a used car - trading in both of our vehicles for one. Looks like it may actually be a better deal for us to buy a NEW Hyundai Elantra. The warranty, the fact that it's new, the 5 star crash test rating and the MPG are some pretty big Pros to ignore! We are going to drive a few more cars and then do all our final research and then not get run over and make a quick decision! I then made mashed potatoes and meatloaf for dinner - YUMMMM. I tried the New Potato and wasn't very impressed, I think I will stick with red or russet for making mashed taters - the New Potato was too thick and starchy, seemed more like boxed mashed potatoes.

Whirlwind Day

2010-09-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

So on Tuesday the 23rd my company flew me, Lupe & Crystal down to Oakland (icky) California for an annual manager's meeting. Since I was out sick the Friday before I wasn't even told until Monday and good thing Ray was able to get the day off to stay home with Elli! I set my alarm for 3:37am and Lupe and Crystal picked me up at 4:35am to make our 6:15am flight! We got to the airport at 5:00am and got stuck in a LOOOONNNNGGGG line at security! We made it through, stopped at the restroom, bought a coffee and then heard our last call! Lupe barely made it because he had to go back to the Starbucks line (I had just stood in this long line) to get a muffin! Thank God he made the flight - he hates to fly and would most likely not do well without us there! The flight there was fine - no turbulence at all! We were definitely tired though! Once we landed we had to wait for a shuttle to the rental car. We had reserved a SUV but of course they had none! They asked Lupe if he wanted a Dodge Challenger instead and he immediately agreed without asking Crystal if she would mind - since she was in the backseat! We took one wrong turn on our way there - that was my bad since I was using the GPS on my phone but still trying to do my makeup! Once we found our exit we went to go some breakfast at Jack in the Box and walked out of there 10 minutes before we were supposed to be at the meeting! We met at Campo di Bocce in Livermore. We had a joint maintenance & manager meeting about how well the company as a whole and some accomplishments of some of the properties. We then broke up for lunch - the managers went inside and we had a nice salad, bread, chicken pasta & dessert lunch. It was really nice to be able to meet all the other managers from CA! Some awards were handed out and I got a pin for 3 years with the company! I'm almost on 4 years but that isn't until November. Then we had a speaker, Tammy Laurens, talk to us about selling on phone calls - she talked super fast but was very fun to listen to! Crystal and I both answered questions correctly after and got a cup of goodies and Starbucks card! After our meeting we all got to play Bocce together and it was a blast! Lupe, Crystal, Liz, Alianna, Brandy and I were on a team together and we won 13-6! I really enjoyed meeting everyone and did have a lot of fun! We left there at 4:00pm to make it back to the airport for our 6:50pm flight! After returning the car we made it to another long line at security. Crystal was smart and brought a change of comfy clothes and changed while we were waiting. Lupe actually met Gary Payton and got his photo taken with him - what a lucky guy! We then grabbed dinner at California Pizza Kitchen - BBQ Chicken & Roasted Garlic Chicken! Crystal and I sure smelled yummy! The flight back had some turbulence but wasn't too horrible - we were just so happy to have made it home! We were like zombies walking all the way back to the car! Going back to work on Friday was exciting to share with the team but I could hardly keep my eyes open from working a 16 hour day and being up for 20 hours!

Leaking Roof

2010-09-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

So last week when I got off of work and was about to get into my car, I noticed water all over my steering wheel, seat and floor of my car! I checked the sunroof and the windows but couldn't figure it out. There was water dripping from the ceiling! At first I thought something was wrong with my windshield but there was inches of water sitting in the ceiling. There is about two inches of space between the ceiling and the actual metal/glass of the roof. The majority of my roof is glass but I couldn't see anything wrong on the outside. I had to pick up Elli but as soon as I moved the car a waterfall came down all over the front of the car and me! I was SOAKED! I could squeeze the ceiling material and water would come gushing out! Thank God that Angela was nice enough to come and help me wipe all the water up before my drive home! She even gave me a hug since I was crying I was so upset! Well it turns out that the sunroof's seal isn't really a tight seal and there are drains that are supposed to drain the water...apparently the drains can get clogged which causes the water to back up in the ceiling! SERIOUSLY?!?!!? This is a normal problem with Land Rovers? I really just paid that much money for a car that can leak? I was just getting to the point where I was over the hate for the car and just dealing with it - until last Wednesday. I HATE this car! All anyone has ever paid for with Land Rovers is the name - there is nothing great about this car that is worth the money they charge! Our Chevy is hands down a better car! We are on the hunt to find a sedan at this time and just rolling over our negative equity into the new loan. I just can't stand paying for something I hate! I just hope we can find a dealer to work with us and a car that we will love - since we may be going down to 1 car soon!

Elli's 1st Ever Zoo Trip

2010-09-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

In June my cousin, his wife and their daughter all came down here to WA to visit for a week. We got to meet up for dinner one night at aunt Nancy's and it was fun to watch Elli interact with Della! They live in Alaska and we hardly ever get to see them so it's always a treat when we do!

Kent, Breea & Della

Della and Elli playing in the yard

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa with the girls

On June 23rd Elli got to go on her 1st trip to the Zoo. My mom, dad, Grandma, Grandpa, aunt Mardel, uncle Tim, Kent, Breea and Della all went to Woodland Park Zoo for the day. I had just found the most perfect zoo outfit at Old Navy for Elli and was a little sad I wasn't able to get the day off of work to join them! Elli had a wonderful time though seeing the animals and spending time with family. At the entry to the zoo Elli made friends with a little 4 year old boy, he was so cute he gave her a kiss on the top of her head to say goodbye! She is so very social, I love it! Since Great Grandma got a wheelchair, Elli enjoyed holding hands with her while they were strolled together. My mom of course made sure to get a lot of photos for me! She even got a photo of Elli and Della on the big hippo statue for me! My mom said that after one diaper change at the zoo she changed Elli's outfit because it was too difficult to get on and off! At least she looks cute in whatever she wears! Some of her favorite things were pushing her own stroller, the bolts in the barn, and any statue. Elli was a very good girl the whole day even without a nap - she definitely crashed out on the drive home though!

Getting ready to enter the zoo!

She made a friend at the entry gate

Enjoyed holding Great Grandma's hand

Mommy's favorite - the hippo!

Would rather walk than be in her stroller

Really liked banging on this ball

Such a big gorilla hand

Such a Grandpa's girl

Didn't want to cooperate for a photo

Another fun statue

All she wanted from the Zoo Store was a poster

A wonderful day at the zoo!

Elli's 1st Birthday

2010-09-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

Wow have I been neglecting my blog!! I'm very sorry! Hopefully it doesn't happen again! I'm going to try and play catch up here so that I can look back in years and remember what happened. :) Let's start on Elli's Birthday!

In July we celebrated Elli's 1st Birthday! Oh what a year it has been! It has been absolutely amazing to watch her grow every single day! Each day brings something new that either we learn as parents or Elli has learned. She is an extremely animated little girl, she loves Max like he's her best friend, she is very social and will go to pretty much anyone, she is a great eater, she is very independant, she loves to dance, she loves shoes (thanks to Grandpa), she likes to figure out how things work, and she is obsessed with reading! I look forward to seeing her continue to grow & learn and become even more like Ray & I!

We had Elli's party the weekend before her actual birthday because we had a lot of other things going on in July. We had her party at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, hoping it would be a nice day and it was perfect! Ray and I dropped Elli off with auntie Jess and then got to the park at 11:00 to get a grill, tables and start setting up for the party at 2:00pm. She had a wonderful turn out of friends and family, we are extremely blessed! We served hamburgers, hot dogs and all the sides with help from Rhonda & Olga! We got Elli her own cake to eat along with a Winne the Pooh cake for all her guests. I heard the cake was great - I was too busy to have a slice! After she made a mess with her cake I took her down to the water to clean up. We then came back up and did presents - again what a blessing! Her biggest gift was from Grandpa Randy - he made her a cedar toy chest that will be part of the rest of her life! She got puzzles, books, little people house, camping chairs, toy pony, Violet (she deserves another blog), and many more toys! We had a wonderful day celebrating and were so thankful for all of those that showed up! We were a little tired that night....

She absolutely loves her hippo camping chair!

On Elli's real birthday, a Thursday, Ray and I both took the day off to spend the day with her. We met up with Jess, Steve & Isaac and went to the Woodland Park Zoo. We had a wonderful time seeing all of the animals and being with our best friends! We got to see some monkeys up close, as well as a hippo that even made a hippo noise! Of course that was my favorite! :) I think Elli's favorite part was getting to walk and push her's or Isaac's stroller!

After a long day at the zoo we had to hurry home through traffic to meet our family with dinner and cupcakes. My parents, Rhonda, Randy and Shawna all came over that evening for Subway sandwiches, I know not exciting but I haven't even mentioned that I was catering cheesecake for a wedding, so Subway was the best I could do! We had a wonderful evening enjoying Elli, watching 'Yo Gabba Gabba' and of course opening more gifts!

We truly had an amazing few days celebrating our perfect little girl! Even more crazy to think how much she has grown since her birthday! I know that her 2nd birthday will be here before we know it!

Vote For Elli to Be The Next Gerber Baby!!

2010-07-06T22:21:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Gerber is having a new contest to be the next Gerber baby! I've entered a photo of Elli and would love your votes! Thanks!

http://www.gerber.com/photo/?entryid=4407&/#/detail/

Cannon Beach 2010

2010-06-04T20:30:00.001-07:00

Ray and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary this year! Wow time sure does fly by! We got to spend our anniversary back in Cannon Beach and it was wonderful! We drove down on Monday and arrived around 3pm. We stopped at the spot on the beach we got married and took photos first. It was amazing to be back there and have Elli there! We checked in early and got the same room we had when we got married! So much more special to have Elli there this time! The weather wasn't too sunny but we went out to the beach anyway so Elli could check it out. She seemed to enjoy it. That night for dinner we tried a place we hadn't gone yet, The Driftwood Inn, and it was ok. It was dead when we arrived but that was ok since we had the stroller with us. Our server adored Elli and Elli loved pointing at her...she started a trend with that I think. That night Elli and I enjoyed the Jacuzzi tub together. She sure loved the bubbles!

On Tuesday it was raining a little in the morning so we took a drive down to Tillamook. We got some great photos on the way down and had fun at the cheese factory. It was amazing to see how the process works there. We bought a few things there and then started the trip back. Elli enjoyed sleeping in the car both directions. It rained most of the day still but we had lunch at a little pizza place and then walked around in the rain and did some shopping. I got Elli an adorable sign from Bruce's Candy Kitchen that says 'Dance Yourself Silly'. Dancing has become her new thing and she looks so cute doing it! After shopping we took a nap in the room. We had a wonderful dinner that night at Morris' Fireside, this is where we had dinner after the wedding. We both got a cup of their AMAZING clam chowder but by the time I got my food I was so full! My dinner was $26 though so I didn't want to waste the fish! That night I enjoyed the Jacuzzi tub all to myself! :) Then we watched 40 Year Old Virgin.

On Wednesday it was icky weather again so we went and enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Pig'N Pancake! Elli ate lots of fruit, I had Eggs Benedict and Ray had a sausage griddle meal. So yumm! We did a little more shopping after breakfast and then we ended up going into Seaside to check out the aquarium. Well, the aquarium was definitely small and not really worth the amount they charge. Elli enjoyed pointing at all the animals though. After that we went back to the room and Ray and Elli napped while I surfed the web and thought about getting my hair done, but never did...Once they woke up the wind had died down and the rain stopped for a bit so we ran out to the beach again. That night we had dinner at Bill's Tavern which was really good food but not the best service. Elli was also tired and I think done with eating out and was a little cranky so we were happy to get back to the room. Ray enjoyed the Jacuzzi tub that night.

So on our last morning we got up early and went out to the beach while the sun was out. It was nice to end the trip on the beach! It was a long drive back home but Elli was a good girl for most of it. It was a wonderful and relaxing trip away and we so look forward to the years to come we get to spend there!

elli's first steps.MOV

2010-05-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun video of taking her first steps today! She turned 10 months old yesterday! We love how fast she is growing up! Enjoy!

Missing Eyelashes

2010-05-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

So this morning I was curling my eyelashes and my hand slipped and I pulled out a whole chunk of eyelashes with the curler! It definitely stung! I couldn't believe it when all the lashes fell into the sink! I'm so mad because I already have the shortest lashes ever! Holly said it will take like 2 weeks for them to grow back! Has anyone heard of anyone using the prescription mascara that makes your lashes grow? I'm interested in it!

These are the best photos I could get of the missing chunk.

Here are some recent photos...

2010-05-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

Seriously crying for more food!

My beautiful girl!

TOUCHDOWN!!!

Going on a short hike

Anyone know of any baby photo contests???

Little Updates

2010-03-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

I know I've been horrible with updating...so sorry! Here are some recent photos!

We love it so much when she laughs!!

2010-02-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

Trip to Montana for Isaac's 1st Birthday!

2010-02-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

We went to Montana Thursday the 4th until Monday the 8th to celebrate Isaac's 1st birthday! Elli was perfect on the flight there! Lots of people made comments once we landed that they didn't even know there was a baby on board! She only slept for about 30 minutes of the flight but was just a happy girl through it all, no crying! Such a blessing she is! Once we got there we stopped over at Sarah and Pete's to pick up Isaac since he had been napping. The little ones got to play a little bit and Elli was overwhelmed with all the toys! The scary part of the trip is when Elli rolled out of the seat in the car when we were leaving Sarah's house and landed right in the snow! Scared me so bad but she turned out okay. That night we ended up staying home instead of going to the children's play space because Isaac was very tired and Christian still wasn't feeling well. Celine made chicken fajitas for everyone and they were delicious! That night all the women sat around the table talking and drinking wine while the men sat in the living room watching TV and drinking beer.

She kept making funny faces with me!

She is excited!

On Friday we gave Isaac and Elli a bath together before heading out to the mall. We let the kids play for a bit at the play area until they closed it for cleaning. Then we walked around the mall a bit and of course found tons of cute clothes for Elli off the 75% off rack at Herberger's! I bought myself a new pair of sunglasses since I lost mine and they are super cute. That night we had dinner at Sarah and Pete's and Celine made some wonderful meat sauce for spaghetti and Pete made delish garlic bread! That night Isaac ended up getting sick, he threw up all over Steve and had to get a bath over there, poor boy!

Two clean babies

Elli and Christian playing together

Walking the ABC's

She loved this, kept going backwards

On Saturday I spent the hours of 5:30am-1:30pm throwing up. It was horrible, I NEVER get sick so I was pretty miserable! Elli also got sick but poor girl didn't know what was happening, it made me sad. So all three babies ended up getting diarrhea as well, with Christian having a horrible diaper rash...so sad! Everyone, especially Celine tried to help me feel better and were all really sweet. Saturday was supposed to be Isaac's big party but with all the babies and me sick Jessica didn't think it was a good idea so it was just us family. I got some great photos of him and his cake! It was still a good time even with the sickness.

Isaac loves his ball pit!

Loved his blue cake!

Sunday was Superbowl and hair day! That morning we spent a lot of time watching the Food Network and wishing we could go to get something to eat but had no car so had to settle for what we had in the house. We finally got the chance for Jess to cut and color my hair! I showed her three photos of styles I liked and she did a wonderful job with the cut! I love it! That night Pete made homemade pizza crust and sauce, I went to the store and got the toppings. The pizza was AMAZING! I wish I had been feeling better so I could've had more than one slice! That evening we watched The Hangover, still a hilarious movie!

Monday was the sad day of having to leave. I made sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for lunch and I was very happy that I could only eat a small portion! (The only good part of getting sick) That afternoon before we had to leave Jess, me, Sarah, Vickie and the little boys went to Hobby Lobby. Oh how I love that store and so wish we had one here! I got some really cute stuff for Elli's room, I will have to post another blog once we hang it all up! The one good thing about going home is the lack of people at the airport so we went through security easily and quickly! Elli slept the whole flight home! What a good girl! Thank goodness it wasn't on the plane and just in the car on the way home from the airport but Elli got bad diarrhea and had to have a bath as soon as we got home. She is finally starting to feel better, I hate knowing she doesn't feel good!

Me and my godson!

girlfriend and boyfriend

VBFs and the kiddos!

Even though it sounds like we didn't do much it was a relaxing trip and it was wonderful to spend time with everyone! I miss them all the time and can't wait until May when they come here!

Elli playing with herself

2010-01-18T21:38:00.000-08:00

We had Elli's 6 month appointment today and wow is she a big girl! She weighs 19 lbs 10 oz and is 28 inches long! She isn't too round since she is so tall. But there are some babies that weigh that much at one year! She is off the charts in her weight and height! While we were waiting for the nurse to come back for shots she was having a blast with the mirror! She got two shots and something to drink (I don't remember what it was) and she can go get her ears pierced now! It will be a fun girls day out to do that! Now we just need to get her crawling! She can roll over, she's been sitting up for 2 months now, loves to stand and is starting to pull herself up to standing, loves fruit, says 'DaDa', 'BaBa' and just starting with 'MaMa'. She still adores Max and wants me to help her walk and chase him!

Elli was adorable at the Dr's office today when we were waiting for her shots. She was having a blast playing with her reflection!

Angel Bum

2010-01-17T21:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted these PJ's for Elli sooooo bad for Christmas and I was really sad when nobody got them for her! :( We went and looked at the Osh Gosh outlet in North Bend but they had NONE left! Well I ran down to the store last Friday night to grab some stuff for dinner (fried rice & sweet and sour pork) at Fred Meyer. They were having a baby sale so a bunch of clothes were at the entry to the store, which I of course looked through. I found one set of the PJ's but they were in th 3 month size, so I went to the baby department. In the clearance rack I found another set but they were 6 month size, also too small. I told Ray so today we went to Fred Meyer in Redmond and found some! They are 9 month so won't fit her for long but I HAD to do a photo shoot with her! Ray says it looks like she is ready to get a spanking! :) Love that little bum!!

The cutest 6 month old!

2010-01-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some adorable photos of Elli in her exersaucer! She sure loves it!

Gotta love 'Cops'

2010-01-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

So Ray was watching 'Cops' the other night and I was laughing so hard! There was one lady FREAKING out when her boyfriend was getting arrested and then once he was in the car she was totally calm like nothing had ever happened. Then they panned over to this lady, not sure who she was, but I made Ray pause the TV so I could take a photo! Not only is this woman fugly but she is missing teeth. The best part is her shirt!

I Moose Have A Hug

2010-01-09T22:04:00.001-08:00

Elli got this adorable onesie from my Aunt Tammie's sister - Lynora. (Auntie Nora) It also came with a little stuffed moose that is equally cute! :) Elli was looking super cute in it earlier. Not so cute now that she refuses to go to sleep...been trying for the last hour and a half.....

Playing with Photoshop

2010-01-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Holly was helping me learn how to do this on Photoshop and since we both have newer versions we found an even easier way to do it! I'm quite proud of myself! Will be addicted to this program soon!

Merry Christmas from Max

2009-12-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

WARNING!!! NOT FOR THE QUEASY STOMACH READERS!

This year Max had to stay home because Nancy has too many stairs and we didn't want Max to hurt his back by trying to go down them so we left him home. We checked the house before we left to make sure we hadn't left any candy down in his reach and saw nothing! Well apparently we didn't look hard enough because Max left us a wonderful Christmas present. Rhonda had given Elli some clothes in a box that had a lid and all and I guess when we were packing up the night before I had stuck a box of chocolate in there as well. I forgot about it but Max found it. The box was up on the ottoman with the lid on the box! When we came home last night we didn't hear any barking and we weren't greeted at the door so we knew something was up. We didn't notice anything immediately. Until I walked into the dining area....There was puke everywhere!!!! Two piles by the table, one by the bar and one in front of his bed. I then found pieces of the chocolate box in the living room and the rest of the box under the Christmas tree!!! The large box of clothes had been knocked off the ottoman, the lid taken off and the box of chocolates unwrapped and eaten!! This dog went crazy!!! I wasn't worried since he obviously threw up quite a bit but I was PISSED!!!! The worst part...after Ray cleaned up everything on Christmas night...we found more! When I was sitting on the couch this morning I noticed my butt was wet. I got up and moved the cushion. BEHIND the cushion there was puke! Seriously!!! We had to take the couch apart and wash it. As I was doing that I looked over and there was MORE puke under the dining table!!!! Can you imagine how mad I was? Stupid dog is more trouble than he is worth!!! GRRRRRR Anyone want a dachshaund?
This is the rest of the Pot of Gold chocolate box found under the tree
Some pieces of the chocolate box...WAY too close to the new car seat!
Pile #1 by the table and recycling
Pile #2 by the bar and the new TV
Pile #3 by the table and Elli's new toy
Pile #4 in front of his bed
Pile #5 under the dining table
And pile #6 behind the couch cushion!
The back of the seat cushion!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2009-12-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We got up around 7:30 for our Christmas morning. It was wonderful to relax and enjoy our morning with our yummy cinnamon roll and our fire on the TV. I have been sick since Tuesday and Elli started getting fussy last night and didn't sleep too well, poor girl! Max got a bed for Christmas this year. He got it a few weeks early since we can't hide a bed from him but he did get some treats in his stocking. Elli got socks, binks, bibs, bottles and hair things in her stocking this year. She also just got clothes from us this year to save money. We knew everyone else would get her toys and books and since she doesn't understand it yet we didn't want to go overboard. The big present she got from Grandma & Grandpa was a new carseat! They got the best one out there! The Britax Marathon and she loves sitting in a big girl seat now! She will be able to see out the window now and she loves sitting instead of laying back so the seat will be nice. Ray got me clothes! Sad they didn't fit my baby pooch but we will go and exchange them soon! He also got me a new jacket that I love! It is teal and has a hood. A great fall/winter jacket! I got Ray an ipod shuffle with a gift card for itunes. He had forgotten he had even asked for one so he was pretty surprised! Now I just need to help him get his music on there! :) With her stocking from Mommy & Daddy
Her BIG present
She loves her new seat!

After we finished our Christmas we headed back out to Duvall for our stockings at Ray's mom's house. Elli got more bibs, books and socks! She had a blast playing with Zack all morning! She thought it was so funny every time he would lick her! She looked her cutest ever with her Christmas dress & sweater. We got a family shot, I'm not too happy with me in it but I will deal. :)

The Isom familyTrying to get a good photo...not working well...
Checking out what is in her stocking

We then headed over to my Aunt Nancy's on Novelty Hill. We got to spend the rest of the day there so that was wonderful! We don't usually get to stay long because we are going to Duvall so it was nice to go to Duvall first! We had a wonderful beef roast dinner with TONS of food and dessert for all 27 of us! I love having a big family, I couldn't imagine not having them in my life! We had fun playing games, opening gifts and just being together. I had Jesse this year in the drawing. He is pretty tough to buy for, what 14 year old boy that has everything isn't? He was getting a new bed for Christmas so Nancy gave me the idea for these fleece sheets. He loved them! He was excited for his new bed too! No more twin bed! He can actually fit! Ray had Aunt Karen and I picked out a scarf for her, and then we went together and picked out some earrings and a cashmere argyle sweater for her. She seemed to like everything. :) Elli got lots of toys and books from everyone! She had so much fun with the new stacking cups from the Blanks! Jesse had Ray this year and he went in with Grandma & Grandpa and got him a Keurig machine! He is excited to use it and not waste pots of coffee anymore! Nancy had me and got me Photoshop! I am so excited to start playing around with it! Janae taught all the kids how to play Kemps. It really is a drinking game from college, we just played without the drinking. Kyle and Ryan were teamed up and they dominated the game for sure! Elli still wasn't feeling to well, very snotty, so she took a long nap through most of the gift opening. She then got a bottle from Jaime and took another nap with her! :) Jaime just loved being able to kiss her and feed her with no gloves on since those things aren't allowed in the NICU. She did hang out with Aunt Nancy and checked out the train around the tree. She thought that was pretty fun! :)
So excited to see her Auntie Missa!
Some of the cousinsHer new stacking cups that also turn into balls!Napping with Jaime after her bottle
Checking out Uncle Dirk's train!

Twas the night before Christmas

2009-12-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

After I got off of work at 3pm I picked up Elli from my parents and drove home very quickly! I picked Ray up and we were off to Duvall. Ray and Elli went over to his Grandpa's house in Duvall. I didn't go because I was sick and didn't want to be around Grandpa Frank, a cold would be a very serious problem for him. Shawna hadn't been feeling too great either so she came over to his mom's a little later and we got dinner started while watching 'A Christmas Story'. We had Stouffer's lasagna, salad and garlic bread. It was so good! After dinner we all sat down to open presents! Elli of course was very spoiled and got soooo many clothes! She also got a great new floor mat with hanging things from Grandma (see future posts for photos). Mom got both of us and Randy and Shawna TVs. It will be wonderful to have a new flat screen for our bedroom!! Shawna of course loved the notebook, notepad and framed photo of Elli! She is the one person I know that I can always get a photo gift for and she adores it! We also made an Elli calendar for Rhonda and she loved that as well! Randy and Shawna got Ray and I a $50 gift card to the zoo! That will be so wonderful to use this summer to take Elli to see all the animals!! It was a wonderful evening with family and great gifts!

Twas the morning before Christmas

2009-12-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve I had to work but my parents had it off so I took Elli over there before work to open her stocking. As you can see there was a lot more than just a stocking for her. :) Her big present was at home with us to open the next morning. She was interested in some of the gifts and of course the wrapping paper. She looked super cute in her pink snowflake jammies! My adorable little girl!! It was nice to have a special morning with my parents before it got busy with the rest of the family there! I also had my parents open the presents from us. We got my dad movies (of course), candy, mouse pad with photos of Elli and under armor for football. He thought we spent too much but I did great with sales for him! :) We made my mom a photo book of Elli. That is all she asked for. I think my Dad loved it almost more than she did! :) But they both enjoyed their presents. They got Ray and I tickets to Billings for Isaac's 1st birthday in February! We are sooooooo excited to go and see my vbf!!

Elli and all her stocking presents....
The best present ever!!
Helping her open a new toy
She loves her books
The monkey tastes good
Shapes in a bucket
oh boy a Veggie Tales!
Really? These are for me?
Starting off early with saving her pennies!
Checking some stuff out
Ending presents with a bottle from Grandpa!

Fun Christmas Day!

2009-12-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

Today was such a great day spent with Olga (GramO) and Jordan (Uncle J)! Elli & Uncle J

We met up at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Elli was a little cranky the whole time so it made for a difficult lunch. On the way to the mall I told Ray that I had to try really really hard to keep my patience since I knew the mall would be crazy. Well that didn't even make it through lunch...Ray got his fish & chips well before anyone else. Well then about 10 mins after Ray had gotten his lunch and 5 mins after O & J got their food I finally got my burger and fries. I ate about 5 french fries after having to ask a 2nd time for my honey mustard...since he didn't write down our order when he took it...and 2 bites from my burger when I saw a hair on my plate wrapped through my fries. So I totally lost my appetite for the rest of my lunch and when they offered a new one I didn't want anything else from the kitchen. They then offered a piece of cheesecake so I did take that and chose the new Red Velvet cheesecake. We asked the waiter for some warm water for Elli's bottle and while waiting Elli knocked over Ray's soda. It went all over Ray's legs and all over the seat! The floor was covered as well and started getting dirty from our shoes and the sticky soda! Poor Ray was all sticky the rest of the day! Well after waiting for the warm water I asked for I finally got up to go to the bathroom for water for her bottle. While in the bathroom I really lost my patience...I got back to the table chanting patience. :)

After lunch we headed over to see Santa!! The line looked super long but I think we only waited about 30 minutes. Elli slept for most of the wait but woke up happy so that was nice. We tried SOOOO hard to get her to smile. Even Buddy the Elf :) tried to help but she just stared. 'I get to see who?'

She also got to take a photo with Uncle J! She did a great job for her age I think! Elli & GramO

At least no screaming! :) We also stopped to take a few photos in front of the big tree in the middle of the mall.

Then Elli's Christmas present from GramO was to go to Build-A-Bear! She picked out Holly the Moose over Mischevious Monkey. It was such a fun experience even if she didn't understand everything. We got the lullaby sound. They have you warm up the heart, pat it, touch it to your head to be smart, to the ears to hear all Elli's secrets, to the eyes to see, to the nose to smell good, kisses, touched to the heart and make a wish and then we each put our heart in before it is sewn up. :) We chose skinny jeans, a pink top with hearts and some adorable pink glasses. :) Holly the Moose

Now we just need to think of a name! :)

So even though lunch didn't go too well the rest of the day made up for it! What a wonderful day spent with some of my favorite people!

Weekends Are Too Short

2009-12-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

It has been another busy weekend! On Saturday we ran to Costco to get diapers & Christmas cards, then off to Kohl's to use our $10 Kohl's cash - our total at checkout was only $6.50 for 4 items!! Then we headed out to Duvall to celebrate with Rhonda for her birthday. We went over to Pickle Time in Duvall for a delicious burger! We then just hung out at the house watching the Husky game. That night Ray and I finished cleaning up the living/dining table and he put the lights up around our window. Then we sat down and watched '17 Again'. It was pretty good, I liked the message and there was definately some funny parts. This morning we all got up and went to the outlet mall in North Bend to get Elli some jeans. We found a lot more than jeans! She is definately going to be well dressed after Christmas!! On the way home I decided we could just get a real tree this year and really really buy a fake one after Christmas this year! So once we got it home we got it all decorated with Elli watching the whole time...well between the Seahawks game and the tree! Now I'm hoping to enjoy either a movie or some of my shows this evening before having to go back to work again.

Busy Friday & Fever Saturday

2009-11-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

So today I went to work for a half day so I could leave early to take Elli to her 4 month check-up. I had an appt too but it had to be rescheduled. So in the morning Elli went to Grandma's and she had friends over so she didn't get a nap. Then she went to see Daddy, Grandpa and Uncle Ryan at work which is where I met up with them. My mom went with us to her Dr appt. Elli weights 16 lbs and is 26 inches long! That means she has grown 2 lbs and 1.5 inches since her last appt a little over a month ago! She is the 95% for everything. The doctor was impressed with how she can sit up by herself, how much she stands and that she may get her first tooth soon. She also got 2 shots and she did wonderful! She didn't cry at all for the first shot! For the 2nd one she cried until I picked her up and then she was fine. What a big girl! After the Dr. we went to JCPenney to get her pictures taken. It went ok, it is a hard age to get them to smile. We picked a few to buy so excited to pick those up on the 30th. :) So since Elli never got a real nap except for 30 mins in the car rides she was exhausted when we got home. She slept for about an hour and then got up and had a bottle. As soon as she was done with her bottle she fell asleep cuddling with me! This morning though she got up at 5:00am. After a small bottle she went back to sleep with us until almost 9. When we got up I noticed she was very hot and took her temp. She had a fever of 100.3! Poor baby! She is much better now, back down to 98.2 but not a very fun morning for her!But she sure enjoyed her peas later!

NaBloPoMo Wins! Julie Loses

2009-11-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

So I am way too busy to blog daily! And my life just isn't interesting enough to blog so much! I wish I had time to go out and do more but Elli is a lot of work! This weekend I should have some interesting things to tell you about so stay tuned!

Hello from Elli

2009-11-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. It's Elli again. I'm 4 months old now! Mom and Dad say I am a drool monster. I must be getting some teeth soon because my mouth hurts so much. Some days it is hard to stay happy because of the pain. I sat up all by myself the other day. Mommy and Daddy were so proud of me! I even gave them a big smile for the photo op! I'm also eating cereal and 1st foods now and I'm a very good eater! I had a busy day today with Grandma, Aunt Mardel and Karlin so now I'm almost ready for bed. I'm such a big girl I'm already wearing 9 month clothes!! I still don't have many pairs of shoes that fit me though, I have little feet. On Friday Mommy and Grandma are taking me to the Dr for my 4 month check-up and later that evening I am getting my pictures taken at JCPenney! I'm going to look super cute!

Elli's 1st Time In The Snow

2009-11-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was the first little snow of the season!! It was icy this morning and quite a few accidents up north. We took a little drive up to Snoqualmie pass to see how our car did in the snow. We got to introduce Elli to the snow and she didn't think much of it yet. She couldn't really move with how bundled up she was! :) Here a some photos of our beautiful trip to the mountains!! I can't wait until the snow is at our house!!!

Want to buy me a gift???

2009-11-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

So posting every day is extremely hard! Thinking of things to blog about (I can't think of anything interesting to say!) And the fact that Elli hasn't wanted to go to sleep the last 2 nights and has been up after 9 so I'm exhausted by the time she goes to sleep! But on to better things...

I have always been one of those kids that made a Christmas list for my parents and everyone else that would buy me something...and I never grew out of it! :) My brother says I get everything off my list because I'm spoiled. Well just because I ask for it doesn't mean I have to get it...my dad is the one that spoils me by getting what is on my list. :) And Ryan is really bad about not telling people what he wants/needs and so if he would just make a list he would probably get that stuff too! :) So here is what I have put on my Christmas & Birthday list so far this year! (Feel free to get me anything you want!) ;-)

Gift card to Target
Adobe Photoshop (Costco has a coupon for $30 off!)
Pedicure
Haircut
Money to go towards a plane ticket to MT
Money to go towards new flooring in our condo
Gift card to DSW (I need new shoes...I'm down to 2 pairs for winter)
Cuisinart ice cream/sorbet/frozen yogurt maker
Someone to come in and paint my bedroom - we already have the paint
Pay off my mortgage
Find someone to buy my car
Ray to get a new job so I can stay home
Kindle
A storage unit for 2 years - already paid for

I think that is all I could come up with now...some are dreams of course but I always have to put the dreams down...you never know who is reading my blog!! ;-)

Done & To Do

2009-11-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

What I've accomplished this last week:

Purchased 2 picture frames for 2 Christmas presents today at Kohl's (BOGO sale)
Made Elli's 4 month check-up appointment for next Friday
Purchased fleece for a blanket for myself and for a Christmas present for someone special
Got all the laundry done! (Until we made more today)
Made a delicious dinner last night
Organized Elli's clothes - pulling out clothes that are too small

What I need to do this week:

Do a photo shoot with Elli
Find someone that needs little girl clothes...I have SOOOOOO many that don't fit her anymore!
Complete all the laundry AGAIN
Get an oil change on my car
Make the blankets with the fleece I bought
Take my coat to the dry cleaners
Get my pants hemmed - stupid hem came out the second time I wore them!

Wish me luck on my TO DO list!!

Chicken Fried Chicken!

2009-11-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

So I didn't get everything that I wanted to get done today but I did make a yummy dinner!! :) Ray went to the Seahawks game so I wanted something warm & hearty for him to have when he got home and I remembered I had some Country Gravy mix and so I made fried chicken and mashed potatoes! The breading turned out he best yet!! It was perfectly coated, it didn't fall apart in the oil and it got nice and crispy!! I skipped the bread crumbs and just did flour, egg, flour, egg, flour. I know the plate looks bland and boring but it was delish!!

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

2009-11-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

Ray and I just finished watching this movie. I'm sure everyone has seen at least one movie regarding Hitler and Nazi's and the war. This movie touches in a different way. It really shows how innocent people are and how kids can tell when someone is good or bad. It is a heartbreaking movie also from a parent's perspective, as well as to watch a marriage suffer due to the war as well. Althought it is a sad movie it is based on history and it was good. (Just make sure you have kleenex)

Weekend Plans

2009-11-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness it's Friday!! Tonight I did a little shopping after work and got myself 3 shirts, a pair of tights and a pair of jeans! I really needed a new pair of jeans so I'm very happy I found a pair. :)

On Saturday we are doing a little shopping at Kohl's for Randy's birthday present...stuck on what we should be getting him though! Tomorrow evening my cousin Kyle has a championship soccer game so I'm hoping it isn't raining to Elli and I can head over there.

Sunday is football day! I'm in 2nd place in our fantasy league and I'm projected to win again this week. I just hope I can keep this up! I sooooooo want to win! 1st prize is $225! That would almost cover one plane ticket to MT!!!

A day of Firsts!!

2009-11-05T22:45:00.000-08:00

Today Elli rolled over for the first time!! It is very exciting that Elli rolled over, the scary part is that I wasn't with her and she rolled off the couch! Thankfully she landed on her bumbo chair (see photos below) and didn't hit the floor. She seems fine, just got scared really. So yay for rolling over!!! :)

Elli also had cereal for the first time tonight!! She did great and just as messy as expected! We had a bath ready for when she was done eating! I can't believe how much our little girl is growing up!!

The first bite!

Thinking about things

Messy girl

Crazy messy girl!

Hopes of Refinancing

2009-11-04T22:13:00.000-08:00

So we are in the application process with B of A and a Title company here in Issaquah to refi our condo. There is a new FHA rate reduction program out there that we qualify for! It looks like we may be saving over $300/month! I'm just praying that this isn't too good to be true and that all of the application process and the closing process goes well! Our contact at B of A said that if when we get to the closing table and we don't like what is in front of us that we can back out. He said we have his word on the costs and the monthly savings. So just keep us in your prayers as we complete this process because it is very much needed!

Remenicising

2009-11-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

So tonight I pulled out my high school yearbooks and it was interesting to remember those days for about 15 minutes. You can totally tell that my Senior year wasn't as good as previous years, I had less than half of the friends sign my yearbook as years before. There were a lot of little things that made the year bad but I won't ge into all of that. I think there was one senior on the yearbook staff that year as well which was bull. They totally messed up on my Senior photo. They put someone else's name under my picture and then put my name under someone else's photo. I hope that people don't look at that years later and think that is really me...oh goodness! As I was looking through it, there was so much stuff in the yearbook that made no sense and was really actually stupid and not done correctly. I never have looked back on my high school days and wished I could go back. I do miss the girls that I was best friends with in high school. We were together almost everyday and we leave each other comments maybe once a month on Facebook. I always thought that we would all be friends through the years but I guess God had different plans for my life than He did for theirs. The only year I enjoyed was my Junior year, that is when I actually had friends and went to school. I really hope that Elli has a great High School experience and is involved in sports and clubs to make the most of what it has to offer.

Random Thoughts...

2009-11-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

I can't think of a topic to write about tonight so here are a bunch of random thoughts going through my head right now...

my lips are so unbelievably chapped and not getting any better - anyone have a suggestion other than chapstick, mary kay or carmex?
Elli is almost too big for one of my favorite sweatshirts and leggings outfit that is 6 months size!
Looks like Matt & Amy Roloff (Little People Big World) just might be the next TLC show couple to get divorced.
I started counting calories 2 weeks ago and have lost 7 pounds so far! :)
Glad the Phillies won tonight, here's to hoping they beat the Yankees!!
I'm sad that Elli got to meet Auntie Missa on Friday and I forgot to take photos!! Now I have to wait until Christmas to get photos of them together.
I hate the fact that I can fly to New York or Florida for half the price it would cost to fly to Montana!!
I have been loving all the pumpkin goodness of the fall season! We just found pumpkin creamer, have been loving my PSL that I get almost once a week, had Pumpkin Pie last night and just ran out of my Dreyer's Slow Churned Pumpkin Ice Cream last week!

Now you know a little of what goes on in my head while I am sitting here watching TV.

National Blog Posting Month

2009-11-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

So I decided to try out NaBloPoMo this year. I have seen it for the last few years but never had the urge. I am trying it this year to try to get myself back on track with blogging. So here it goes...I will try my best! :)

Life at 3 Months Old

2009-10-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Elli is already 3 months old! And for something new I have uploaded some videos of her instead of just photos! She is growing so fast!! She is wearing 6 months in clothes and we bought some 6-9 month sized items today! She learned a new noise today and was hilarious in the car on the way home from Sonic & the Supermall! (the video angle is strange but if she sees the camera she stops talking)

She is still such a good little girl. We know when she cries it is either because she is hungry, tired or her tummy is upset cuz she needs to poo but we know them all and are very blessed. She has been sleeping from around 9 or 10pm until I get her up at 6:30 or 7am every morning. She really loves to eat and still cries when we try to burp her! She is grabbing things really well and will grab my hand to chew on my finger! She will now grab her own rattle and shake it around, it took awhile for her to get to that point!

We are pretty sure she has started the teething process. I just hope this doesn't last 6 months! She chews on her hands and my fingers, she rubs her cheeks a lot, she drools like crazy and will sometimes get cranky in the middle of eating. Grandpa bought her a bumbo chair because she LOVES to sit! She is always struggling to sit herself up when she is lounging in the boppy. Grandpa also has a Mickey that talks from DisneyWorld and that has become one of Elli's favorite toys when she is with Grandma on Monday and Friday. I just love watching her facial expressions when she is watching him!

Life At Bath Time!

2009-10-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

Life at a 2 month check-up

2009-10-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

Elli had her 2 month check-up today. We were a little late but it was hard to figure it out with our schedule and then the days we wanted weren't available...Anyway I was thinking she weighed about 11 lbs...she weights 13 lbs 5 oz! Her head is 41 cm - both are in the 90%. She is 25 inches long. She is definately bigger than I was expecting! She is getting much better at holding her head up when she is on her tummy. She wants to laugh so bad but still can't figure it out. She has started watching Max, probably wondering what that thing is!!

We took Elli to her first Mariner's game tonight. The company took the staff to a game as a job well done while I was on leave. It was fun to spend time with people outside of work with kids and spouses for some people as well. Elli cried for the about the first 10 mins so Ray and I walked around with her so she would fall asleep. We both had hot dogs and mine burnt my mouth really bad. :( We then went to guest services and got a certificate that it was her first game. I think about 5 Safeco Field employees made sure we got that. :) We then went to the store and it was so warm in there I started sweating. We got Elli a cute little pink hat! :) She slept through the rest of the game while cuddling with Misty then Lupe then Benisha (who is 15 weeks prego!). It was fun and we can't wait to take her to her first Seahawks game in this cute little outfit!! :)

Life with A 2 Month Old

2009-09-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

Watching football with Daddy

This is how she watched her first Thursday Night game

Such a happy girl!

After Mommy got off work one day

I can hold my head up really well now!

Watching TV with Daddy...look at that little hand!

No more photos Mommy....SERIOUSLY

I'm ready to tackle you Daddy!

Pretty girl

Cuddling with Grandpa

Life With A Max Update

2009-09-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

So we took Max to the vet again on Monday and he is doing much better. He is trying really hard to walk! He can stand up but still not use his feet properly when he stands. He moves his legs when he scoots along the floor so he just needs to build his muscle back up so he can do both at the same time! He is also wagging his tail which is exciting since he hasn't wagged his tail at me in almost a month! He is starting to be more like the real Max, so I hope that means he is feeling better. He is like our little alarm for Elli, when she is in her bedroom and starts crying Max will make sure we know she is awake by either whining or looking from us to the hallway...too funny! He has also gotten interested in his ball again and it is sad when he wants to play and can't. :( At least we have hope that he is getting better! :)

Life As Elli

2009-09-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hi...this is Elli and I wanted to show you my cute room by showing you what it looked like before Mommy and Daddy made it all pretty for me! Right now I love to smile, I try really hard to laugh but I can't quite figure it out, I can stick my tongue out at you, I love my bath time (I splash Mommy a lot), I eat A LOT (Mommy says my bottles are expensive), I get the hiccups a lot just like my Mommy, I don't poop as much but they sure are messy when I do (hehe), I can say 'aaaaahhhh' really well. I hope you enjoy the tour of my room before me and after me! I'll try to make some time in a few weeks to tell you some more stories! Have a nice day!

This is Daddy getting ready to paint the boring white walls
This is my room now, don't you love my bookshelf? Mommy made me a BIG photo of everyone that met me before I was 6 weeks old so I can see them everyday and never forget how loved I am!
Wasn't this room so sad and boring? I'm glad it doesn't look like this anymore!
Grandpa bought me my dresser and I love to look at the pictures on the wall when I get my diaper changed.
This is the rocker I got from my Great Uncle Dood. Mommy and I spend a lot of time here!
This was my closet before I was born, they started getting clothes early! There are even blankets taking up room in there and that is ALL they had.
Look at my closet now! Mommy says there isn't room for anything else!! Good thing we got that dresser from Grandpa so I can have more clothes! :)
Daddy put this up on my wall, I know it is hard to see but it says 'Some people dream of angels. I hold one in my arms.' I guess that is what Mommy thinks when she rocks me in the glider below this.
This is my favorite shelf! See all my fun hippos? And the hippo frame with me and Grandma is my fav! They even put my name on the wall (and believe me, those letters aren't going anywhere!)

Life With An 80th Birthday Weekend!

2009-08-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our little girl is already 6 weeks old! I'm sad that I have to leave her to go back to work next week. :( I wish I could stay home with her! Max seems to be doing a little better. He has been putting some weight on his back leg and has curled his toes! The vet said we should know by 4-6 weeks after the injury (August 10th) if he will fully heal. We have another appointment on Sept 7th.

This last weekend I went to Sequim with Elli and the rest of the fam to celebrate my grandparent's birthdays! They both turned 80 this month and we had a wonderful party for them thrown by all of their kids! Dirk told some 'old people' jokes, we had a quiz about Grandma & Grandpa and Erica and Kyle wrote an awesome poem about all the fun times spent at their house growing up! Elli was wonderful and had such a fun time meeting the rest of her aunts and uncles! I spent the night with Elli at Aunt Mardel's and Uncle Tim's house. I have a new admiration for my Aunt Mardel after seeing her house. Their entire house is spotless and organized and uncluttered. The yard is beautiful and extremely thought out. The pantry was perfect it could be in a magazine! I wish my house could look like hers for just one day!! On Sunday we went to church and Elli did wonderful, she slept in Grandpa's arms for most of the service! :)

Blowing out 80 candles!
Grandma & Grandpa and all their kids! (and their spouses)
All the grandkids (minus the Mearig kids and Melissa)
Elli with her grandparents
Uncle David with Elli
Janae got to finally meet Elli!
Aunt Nancy playing with Elli
Aunt Karen cuddling with Elli
Aunt Tammie and Elli ready for church
Elli sleeping in church with Grandpa

Life With Two Babies

2009-08-21T13:23:00.000-07:00

So I know it has been a long time since I have really posted and I'm sorry. Hopefully I can get this post finished while the little one is napping. Last night she ALMOST slept through the night! She was cranky before bed and finally went down at 11:30. She did wake up a few times in the 3:00 hour but was happy just to get her binkie back and go back to sleep. She then woke up at 5:00. A little early for me still but we are getting there!!

Napping in her crib like a big girl

I can't believe she is already 5 weeks old! Time really does fly! Even being home with her in the day the hours just seem to disappear. I hardly have time to get anything done around the house since I'm with her all the time. She has been having an upset tummy lately, I'm not sure if it is from the formula or the breastmilk, seems that both bother her. She likes to be held with a hand on her belly with a little pressure, seems to make it feel better. At her one month check up she had grown 2.5 inches and is now 22.5 inches long and was 9 lbs 9 oz so she was much better after all that weight she lost. She is getting so big! She also had to have her 2nd Hep B shot, the 1st one was in the hospital. She really didn't enjoy that, she screamed so much she wasn't breathing. I feel bad for her but at the same time all I can do is laugh at her antics. She is smiling now and it is so fun when she recognizes me and smiles! :)

Great Grandma & Grandma Birthday Party

In other news, and why I have two babies, 2 weeks ago Max stopped walking. We noticed on Sat evening that he was walking funny and by Sunday morning he wasn't using his back end at all. We took him to the ER vet here in Issaquah first thing Sunday morning and he has slipped a disc in his back. This is a very common disease with dachshunds, most common after 5 years old, and he just turned 5 according to the shelter. So they gave us some anti-inflammatory and pain pills to give him and put him on cage rest. If you have read previous posts you know that Max doesn't do well with cage rest, he gets too excited and he is supposed to be relaxing to help his back heal. So he has really just been in the corner of the living room for Max in his corner bed

the last 2 weeks. He has to be carried wherever he goes, including going outside to potty. He either pees or poops in the house daily since it is such a hassle to take him out and extremely hard for me to do it alone with a baby and him. The few times I have had to I put Elli in the carrier and Max in the stroller. Looks pretty funny strolling my dog around! We have an appointment with our normal vet on Monday to see if he has made any progress and if he will be able to fully heal. They recommend surgery but that could cost over $5k and it is only a 50% chance of fully healing him. Also, if this happens once, it is more than likely going to happen again sometime. We're hoping the vet says he will be able to make a full recovery, then we have a few more weeks of rest. If not, we have some hard decisions to make next week so please keep us in your prayers! Max tore up my blanket and his pee pad when he was left for one hour

Life With Only Enough Time To Post Photos

2009-08-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

Ray, his mom, his grandpa and Elli - 4 Generations

Aunt Jess and Elli at Red Robin

Sarah giving Elli a bottle at Red Robin

I was so excited to see Julie and have her meet Elli!

Funny Faces with Daddy

Elli and Isaac in the car - Isaac is smiling in his sleep!

Elli and Emma at Red Robin - she kept wanting to touch Elli!

What a big smile!

Life With More Photos of Elli

2009-07-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Going Home Outfit

What we came home to - thanks Jess & Vickie!

4 Generations of Women

Elli with Aunt Jess

Our little family!

Mommy and Elli - tired little girl!

When Max first met Elli

Isaac and Elli - He was happy to meet his girlfriend!

Isaac looks like he has a trick up his sleeve!

'I love you' butt on her heart onesie

Great Grandma Williams with Elli - her 2nd great grandchild

Great Aunt Mardel

Great Aunt Karen

Grandma Linda and Elli match

Big Brother and Little Sister

Life With Baby Elli!

2009-07-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Anne Isom has arrived!! She was born by C-Section on July 15th at 4:35pm! She weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long! She was definately a big girl! Her head was 15 1/4 inches around so it was definately a big head so I'm glad we chose a C-section a week early!

We had to be at the hospital at 2pm for the 4pm surgery so we had the day to finish getting ready. Since I couldn't eat anything for 8 hours before the surgery...ABSOLUTELY nothing not even a mint, we went to the 12th Ave Cafe in Issaquah and I had a great cheese, ham, onion and avacado omelette and pancakes and it was wonderful!! It was definately hard to not drink any water all day though! We then went to Target to get more baby hangers but they were out so we went to Fred Meyer as well. We took the rest of the day to finish cleaning the house up and packing our bags. Jessica and her parents were so nice to volunteer to watch Max for the few days we would be gone so we dropped him off at Kevin & Vickie's before we headed to the hospital.

When we got there they took us to a pre/post-op room that was small and only had curtains. With all the construction they are doing inside they are having a hard time finding room for everything. Ray's dad and Joan were there really early which was pretty surprising. Turned out that everyone in the family besides my dad and Ryan showed up before we even went into surgery. They had to ask me a lot of questions about medical history and sign some paperwork and do my IV and what not. They put the fetal monitor and her heartbeat was great. They also put the monitor for contractions and I was having contractions every 7 minutes with a few pretty big ones in there. She still hadn't had dropped yet though so who knows what would've happened if we had waited.

The OR was extremely cold...it was hard not to shiver when he was about to give me the spinal block. I didn't even feel the needle in my spine which was great. Was a crazy feeling to have your body slowly go numb. I could tell they were doing stuff but all I could feel was a pressure and no pain. Ray was sitting by my head and the anesteologist was by my head the whole time as well. It only took a few minutes to get Elli out and it was amazing! I could talk and hear and know everything that was going on. They took her and cleaned her up and weighed her right away and then gave her to Ray. Ray did videotape everything from when they pulled her out to when he go to hold her the rest of the time. We then went back to the same room we started in to give Elli a bath, feed her and get me cleaned up. I knew the family was waiting but we were pretty busy with everything and then Elli wouldn't eat for our first feeding. They all finally came back...all 8 of them!! We then got moved to the mom and baby room and it was nice to finally be in 'our' room. People started leaving soon after that and then Aunt Karen and Uncle Jim showed up and got to see Elli before going to the lake for the weekend.

It was a long first night, I only slept about 10 mins at a time...not too easy to sleep in the hospital and got our first hint of what is to come in the next 18 years or so...haha!

So enjoy the few photos I uploaded of our beautiful little girl!

Before her 1st bath

Getting ready for her sponge bath

Getting her hair washed

My 1st time holding my daughter

1st time Grandparents

Grandpa Randy

Grandma Rhonda

Aunt Shawna

Uncle Randy

Uncle Ryan

Life At My Baby Shower!

2009-06-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

My aunts and cousins threw me a wonderful baby shower! Yesterday was 30 days until the due date! I have an appt tomorrow with the doctor so we will see what else has happened in the last 3 weeks. :) So not too many photos turned out well so here are a few of my favorites!

The perfect pink hippo cake from Aunt Mardel

Table of gifts and decorations!

Me and my mom

Aunt Debbie and Grandma

Mom and Mona

Erica and Marlis

All the gifts for me and Elli!

Bouncer from Olga

"Queen of Daddy's Heart"

Big Cheese

Huge box of gifts

Adorable bedding from Grandma and Grandpa!

Cute outfit from the Leuenberger's

Pack n Play from Grandma Rhonda

Special book from Aunt Melissa

One Year Anniversary

2009-06-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Ray and I celebrated our one year anniversary on May 31st! We enjoyed lovely lunch at Anthony's down on the Seattle waterfront on Saturday the 30th. We had dinner at the restaurant upstairs the night that Ray proposed so it was a perfect way to spend our anniversary! We had the most amazing view while eating lunch. There was also a cruise ship right next to the restaurant and it was fun to see everyone getting ready to take off on their vacation.

After we finished eating we walked along the pier and got some ice cream cones and looked around some souvenier type shops.

On our actual anniversary, Sunday, we went to breakfast at the 12th Ave Cafe in Issaquah. Oh goodness it was AMAZING! So much food I couldn't even finish it all but my ham, cheddar, onion and avacado omellete was delish! We then hung out with Ray's mom for a little while at home and went to XXX to have milkshakes and check out the car show. That night for dinner Ray made dinner. We bought this adorable minnie & mickey pasta in DisneyWorld and enjoyed it for our 1st anniversary. We got some wonderful ice cream cupcakes for dessert from Cold Stone.

We had a wonderful and relaxing anniversary...even being 8 months pregnant! Although I did miss going to Cannon Beach to celebrate I don't think I could've handled that long of a drive being as large as I am!

Life With No Ankles!

2009-05-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

So here I am at 31 weeks! Getting big!! We have an ultrasound on Monday! I can't wait to see her!! It is getting really hard to move while in bed and really hard to get off the couch! I went to water aerobics last Wednesday and felt good! I am still 56 inches, didn't grow this last week but am gaining one pound every week. At least I didn't gain too much for the first 6 months cuz it sure is coming now!!

What happened to my ankle?? I used to have such cute feet!

Life With 10 More Weeks!!

2009-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

So I am 30 weeks! Yeah!! Only 10 more weeks to go! I really hope it is less than that though! She can come in 8 weeks and I'll be happy! :) I am HUGE and I still have 2.5 months to go!! I've now gained 15 pounds, they started adding up once I got to the 3rd trimester! My feet are swollen at the end of the day. My hands were huge and throbbing they were so swollen after our walk yesterday. (Almost 2 miles yesterday) I am definately using the bathroom more often, getting up at night again. I am ALWAYS thirsty. We finally ordered our new matress so I am so happy to have the last few weeks of pregnancy with a comfy bed!! I am 56 inches around this week, 1.5 inches up since last Sunday!!! WOW!

Life With A Busy Weekend Celebrating

2009-05-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

So this was a great weekend! Saturday was Ray's 32nd Birthday so we had a good day celebrating him! He got up and took Max for a LONG walk around the hospital up here and I had breakfast waiting for him when he got back. I made eggs, turkey bacon and pancakes. :) After lunch we got ready and we headed out to the mall. All he wanted for his bday was clothes so we went shopping! He found a couple of items. We also go my rings & earrings cleaned and picked up some yummy Cinnabon! :) We then went home to get Max and head out to dinner!
Ray chose to go to the Crab Pot for his dinner. It was a wonderful choice and we all had plenty to eat! I love that they just pour the food on the table and you eat everything with your hands!

Mom, Shawna & Randy - ready with bibs!

Ray with his HUGE birthday beer!

Getting ready to dig in!

It tasted as good as it looks!

Enjoying all the food!

The destruction

So after dinner we headed back to Ray's mom's house to finish celebrating and to give her her Mother's Day gift. She got an ice cream cake and Shawna and I were the only ones to have any! Ray got a gift card to the Mariner's store which is great because he was just saying how he needed a new Mariner's T-shirt...we need to go to a game now! His mom gave him a gift card to Eddie Bauer to buy some more clothes! :) We gave his mom an oven. It was a used one but a lot newer and better than the one she had that was over 20 years old! I got some cards from Mom and Shawna & Randy for my first Mother's Day! :) Someone that Rhonda works with went shopping and got us a bunch of stuff off of our registry! It was so sweet of her! We don't even know her and she got us a bunch of stuff! I am so grateful for everything people have done for us so far!

Then today to celebrate Mother's Day we went over to my parents house for lunch. We brought our guitar for Rock Band so that we could all play something. Here are the boys playing away with the volume up crazy loud! We had chicken, ceasar salad, french bread and corn for lunch. We brought some Coldstone cupcakes but I pulled out of the 7-11 parking lot too quickly and ruined them all - they still tasted good though! We also had Angel Food Cake with strawberries! We like our dessert! :) My mom showed me photos from her trip to Ecuardor. She had a great time and took lots of photos of the kids that the kids in Sunday School sponsor.

Max begging Grandpa for ice cream

Max is exhausted after a long weekend...and we just found fleas on him from going to Grandma's......gotta run!This is how we ended our weekend! We were both bawling! I just sat there and hugged and kissed Max as much as possible!

Life With An Insane Dog....Again

2009-05-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

So Ray went home for lunch today and when he got back he asked me if I had left cookies on the TV tray in the living room which I had not. I told him I had a brand new package of Orange Milano cookies on the dining room table. Apparently Max got onto the table...don't know how...and proceeded to tear into the bag and eat the entire bag of cookies! There are 15 cookies in there!!! This dog must be obsessed with chocolate!! I wanted my cookies! Dumb dog!!

Life With A Trip To Sonic

2009-05-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

So Sonic has FINALLY opened a location here on the West of Washington! They opened in Puyallup last week and we made a trip down there today! It was so nice to drive 40 miles instead of over 100 to get to a Sonic!! And oh was it yummy!!! There were still some long lines but I was prepared for that and didn't really mind. When you pull in they ask if you want a stall or drive-thru and then give you a color coded post-it with the time you got in line. So this first photo is mostly of the people waiting in line for the drive-thru but we are in the last row of 4 waiting for a stall. We got there at 12:10 and got a stall at 12:45 so not too bad! By the time we left at 1:30 it was 10x busier! The line went around the office building next door before going to the waiting lot!!

The line to order at the window and eat outside was extremely long as well! And it kept growing!

Someone was too busy looking at Sonic to pay attention to the road...and she was an idiot that didn't ever turn on her hazards! We even heard someone yell at her to turn them on as they drove by!

We finally made it! I love my Sonic!!

Life With Bed Head

2009-05-03T07:08:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when I go to bed with wet hair....

Life With Uncontrollable Emotions

2009-04-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

So one of the many 'joys' of pregnancy is having absolutely NO control over your emotions! Today someone came in to cancel their move-in...stupid reason...but after they left I started crying! I felt so stupid! There were some guys (vendors) out in the lobby with Lupe and they could tell I had been crying! I really had no reason to cry at all! I guess everything that had been bugging me just came out at that time. So annoying!

Life With A Newbie That Can't Draw Blood Correctly

2009-04-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

So I had to take my glucose test this last week and get my blood drawn on Monday. They were also testing my iron, thyroid and vitamin D so they took 6 viles of blood! (I'm all good! little low on iron but just need to eat more red meat!) Anyway, the new guy was told to draw my blood. I knew this was a mistake before I even walked back there but I thought oh well. I have really small veins and they ALWAYS have trouble finding one in my arm. Well he apparently found one, whatever he was doing (I can't stand to look) was hurting and then he said he couldn't get anything because the vein kept collapsing. The vile looked weird like blood had just squirted into it. Well I had to wait 5 minutes for this woman to come back and do my other arm instead. This is the lovely bruise I get to look at all day on my right arm now. Isn't it just so pretty? My staff are making fun of me and saying I'm shooting up!

Wednesday Thursday

Life With Traffic...

2009-04-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

So I have switched my schedule on Mon-Wed to 8-5 so I can be home a little earlier in the evening. Well some nights it really sucks driving home at 5 instead of 6 because traffic is worse. So last night I'm driving home and I'm heading North on 405 and all of a sudden traffic just stops. Well in the Southbound lanes there was a car on fire that the fire department were putting out. It was hard to get a photo while I was driving but you can just barely see the fireman in the smoke. I was just completely amazed at how the traffic on the opposite lanes of the freeway completely stopped. Too many nosey people want to know what is going on. They could've just gone home and seen it on the news!

So once I got out of this mess on 405 I got on 90 and it was stopped there too! I was dumbfounded that the meter lights weren't on for the cars getting on 90 from Eastgate. The lights are always on when I come home at 6 but for some reason they weren't on last night. This is the mess of people trying to get on 90 from the Eastgate on-ramp. You can see that the light isn't working and all the cars lined up trying to merge. I don't understand how it is so hard to merge for some people! And I also don't understand why some cars stay in the far right lane when they see traffic like this trying to merge into that lane. It would be a hell of a lot easier if those cars in the right lane switched lanes before slowing down. And why can people not speed up before they get on the freeway? The speed limit is 40 on the freeway...it is 60 and you should be at that speed before you try to merge!!! Can you tell I can't stand traffic?

Life With A Busy & Fun Weekend

2009-04-26T20:37:00.001-07:00

On Friday night Ray and I put together Elli's new crib! My parents, well my dad did most of it, got us a crib and it is perfect! It took almost 2 hours from start to finish but we did it! :) I put in all the hippos and a few bears in the crib until we get all the shelving up. My grandma Byram sent us a box with a handmade blanket and I love it! That is the blanket on the side of the crib. She also sent us 2 packs of diapers! Our stash has started! :) The crib also came with a drawer that goes underneath and I'm storing most of the blankets in there. So far we have 7 blankets and I haven't even had a shower yet! On Friday and again on Saturday evening I searched and searched the internet for some bedding. I'm having a really really hard time finding what I want. I found a hippo bedding set but it is in blue...wish it was in purple!!

On Saturday Rhonda came over and we went to breakfast at IHOP. When we went for work we bought 10 entrees so I got one free! I had country fried steak, eggs and pancakes!!! It was very yummy but I was extremely full! We then stopped off at Costco to pick up prints of my belly photos so that I can start putting an album of before Elli together! :) We then went to the Farmer's Market in Issaquah that they have weekly at the Pickering Barn. There are vendors inside and outside. We found a cute croteched hat for Elli. There was a lady there that sewed blankets and I was talking to her about finding Hippo fabric. I looked online at some websites but couldn't find hippo fabric anywhere! We also go clams to make white clam pasta and some NY steaks and some dip mix for some yummy homemade dips! I also got some flowers! They are gorgeous!

On Sunday we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch in Lynnwood. It of course was delish even if I couldn't eat it all and have lunch for tomorrow! :) We then headed over to Babies R Us because we had a 15% off coupon but we didn't read it correctly and the 15% off is good for Wednesday only. Well, since Jeanette had already sent us the money for the swing we went ahead and bought it since it was on super sale! I knew I wanted one that went side to side and front to back so I was happy to find this one. We had found the same style in brown and pick but it was a little too much for our living room so I was happy to find one that was the same but would match in here better. Thanks very much to Jeanette for everything she has done for us!!

Life With A New View

2009-04-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

If you remember when we moved in here I posted a blog about our view of all of the lovely construction we got to look at out our windows. Well finally most of the houses are done on the corner! Now we only have a little construction view. :)

This is the finished house. DR Horton is now using it as their sales office. It is a very pretty house!

Life With Flowers From The Hubby

2009-04-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

So Saturday morning when we started painting Elli's room Ray went to the store to grab some coffee. Well I heard him come back when I was in the room and he was making a bunch of noise but didn't know what he was doing. Well a few minutes later I went out to the living room to put something away and I noticed a different smell. Well I didn't even seem the right away but Ray got me this beautiful bouquet of lillies! I have been waiting for flowers since Valentine's Day!

Life Painting Elli's Room

2009-04-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was spent painting!! We went to Home Depot on Friday night and picked out our colors and bought our paint. I was annoyed because one lady didn't know what color she wanted and was taking up all the attention from the one employee at the paint counter. So we hung around the area and picked out a brush and some more roller covers waiting for him to finish with her. Well then some guy came and cut right in front of me and started describing what he wanted and he also needed a ton of help. Now, if I had been that employee I would've told him to hold on a second since we had obviously been waiting and we knew what we wanted! Anyway, we finally ordered the paint and went to get dinner while we waited...the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch is back at Burger King!!! (oh how I've missed it!) We spent $90 on paint! Eeek!! They are doing a rebate but now I don't remember what I did with the receipts to get our $15 back!

The plain white room before

Almost done with color #1!

This is when Ray started saying 'It's really pink'

Always!

Done with both of the pinks!

All done! Isn't it a cute little girl's room? Now on to getting the crib put together! :)

Life With A Crazy Week At Work!

2009-03-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

So this week was definately interesting and tested my patience...which I don't have much of while being pregnant!

Tuesday morning I had my first bought of morning sickness since being pregnant. This is also the first time I have thrown up in YEARS! The last time I remember being sick was in the hospital when they had me full of drugs and no idea before that!

The oil spill covered in kitty litter

Then while I was laying in bed on Tuesday morning trying to recover I got a call that the fire & police departments were on the property for an oil spill. Turns out a resident had a 55 gallon oil drum in the back of his truck that got knocked over and spilled all over the property. So not only did the city came out but the State Dept of Ecology also came out to file a report.

The oil drum in the back of the truck

So the resident will be getting fines from both the city and the state and he will also be responsible for the cleanup we had to do in the parking lot and the storm drains. So that took about all day to clean the property and it was just a mess!!

Then Wednesday was just a tough day because I had no patience and I felt that one of my employees mis-represented himself and hasn't really been proving himself to me so it was hard for me to concentrate.

The damage to the side of the building

Then yesterday I left early so I could get my massage! But as soon as I left I had a message from Shadia that a resident called to tell us that she had run into the building. So I drove back up the hill to speak with the police and file a report.

The railings ont he ground and her front end damage

The damage to the building wasn't too bad but she did run over two metal stair railings and then backed into a tree. Still not quite entirely sure how this all happened but it did and it was interesting.
The back end damage after hitting the railings and the tree

Don't you wish you lived in Renton too???

Life at 23 Weeks

2009-03-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

So today is the start of week 23! So next week I will be 6 months. My dad was trying to say that it didn't make sense but he forgot that you are really pregnant for 10 months, not just 9....whoever said it was 9 months? So anyway, I have started to feel her kick now. Ray hasn't been able to feel it yet cuz it is still pretty light on the outside but it feels crazy. She is starting to wake up later in the evening now so she is usually up and moving around when I'm going to bed! I'm pretty uncomfortable most of the time...I don't think I'm one of those women that LOVE being pregnant. I love that I am pregnant and what I am going to get out of this but I'm not liking being uncomfortable, being gassy, not being able to sleep, not having clothes fitting...and it is just going to get worse!! I've slowly starting the swelling stage. So some days I come home and my feet and hands are a little swollen. Nothing too bad yet so that is good. I can still wear my rings and my shoes! We bought Rock Band 2 and it is a little hard to hold the guitar because my belly gets in the way! I did buy a few more maternity pants but one pair is a really weird material so I'm going to return those and the other pair are way too long so I really need to get those hemmed! I am sleeping with a body pillow and that really does help support the tummy so it feels better to sleep on my side, just not fun for Ray to have a body pillow in the middle of the bed. I'm doing better at drinking my water with my cute new water bottle that is easier to drink out of! We found it at Target and I love it! I threw up for the first time yesterday. I can't tell you the last time I threw up so that was a horrible start to the day! I think it was acid reflux because I woke up with horrible heartburn and then got sick and felt fine. It may have been from the orange I ate before I went to bed the night before. I have my next Dr appt on April 1st so hopefully everything goes well! I think that is all my updates for now. :)

This photo was taken on Monday but close enough to today. :) My face is scary white here too!

Life With The First Blossems Of Spring 2009!

2009-03-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

I was super excited today when Ray and I were driving to Target to register for baby Elli and I saw the first pink blossems of the season! I love love love taking photos of flowers and trees and I'm excited it is that time of year again! It is officially spring but our weather is not showing it at all! Some people around the area are still getting snow and we are getting drenched with rain! I can't wait to spring is really truly here!

Life With A Dog That Hurts Himself

2009-03-18T19:14:00.001-07:00

So I know it has been awhile since I've posted and I'm sorry for that but here goes one.

So we thought we would be nice parents and give Max the entire bathroom to roam and put a baby gate up instead of putting him in his kennel. Well...apparently he still freaks out even in that large of a space! The first day he somehow knocked the gate over and was out when Ray got home. The next couple of days he had obviously scratched at the gate but hadn't gotten out. Then one Saturday we came home from running errands and we came home to a bloody dog! He had clawed and chewed the gate up so much! So when he was chewing the gate his nose was going through one of the holes and it got all torn up! So we tried to take the gate down but he had moved it in such a way that it was hard to move so he was freaking out and he knocked his water bowl over in the midst of Ray getting him out of the bathroom. INSANE!! So here is a photo of his nose a couple of days after the incident. It was all bright pink and bloody that day and this is after it has healed some. Then the gate where you can kinda see his chew marks and all the blood on it. So needless to say, Max isn't going back in the bathroom. He has been good so far with leaving him out but who knows how long that will last!

Life With A Baby Girl On The Way!

2009-03-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Today was an AMAZING day! Ray and I went to a specialist this morning for our 20 week ultrasound! I am 21 weeks today. They just moved their offices to a new location and their office is beautiful and HUGE! The room we were in was large and had an awesome chair that starts by sitting up and then moves to you laying down. On the ceiling their was a section of small twinkly lights made to look like stars. The ultrasound machine was brand new and look incredible! So when Dr Case came in he was very nice and friendly. He got started right away with everything. He made sure to go over with us if anything was wrong but everything was perfect! Even the gel they put on my belly was warm! They have a special warmer for their gel it was great! So we got a ton of photos of Eli but it is hard to tell what they all are so I just posted these. We also bought a DVD of the ultrasound but I can't figure out how to upload it online or get it off the DVD and onto the computer...if you know videos I would appreciate the help! So Dr Case was funny when he told us the sex...he said 'And there is your daughter's labia'. It was hilarious! Ray, Jess, Lupe, my dad and a resident were pretty much the only ones that had guessed it was a girl! Eli was perfect in all ways. She weights just about 1 pound right now and is on track to be 8.25-8.5 pounds at 40 weeks. Her head is 2 inches across and 7 inches around. Her waist is also 7 inches around. We got to see her hands and fingers, it was all super amazing! So she can hear us now so he said we should talk to her. He also suggested we write her a letter today about how much we and everyone else love her and will always be there for her. I really liked his idea! :)

So we are so super excited to start decorating the nursery! I can't wait to get the paint up so we can start putting everything together! It will also be super fun to start shopping for girl clothes since we have been shopping for a year for boy clothes for Christian & Isaac! Yeah for little girls! Now Isaac has a girlfriend! :) My dad wanted a little girl so bad! He said he would buy all of the dresses since he loves little girl outfits. He is great! I asked if his bank account was ready and he said yes it was. He was great! My mom's best friend Jeanette actually came to town yesterday to see me! She went out today as soon as we found out and bought some adorable outfits for Eli! She is so sweet! She also said she wants to buy us whatever swing we want. She really spoils me! I love her and appreciate her so much! Hopefully this weekend Ray, his mom and I are going to the North Bend outlet mall where there are 3 baby outlets! I'm so excited to start buying pink!!! And whatever hippo stuff we find we will be getting! (so keep your eyes open for pink & purple hippos!)

These are the first photos of little Elizabeth Anne!
The top one here is of her heart and the bottom is the side profile of her head.

Life Spent Wondering If That Was Really Necessary

2009-03-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

So I was on my way home tonight and this car was ahead of me at 2 lights. Now it isn't some fancy sports car or anything, just a Honda, but apparently this guy thought he was special. He was sitting at both lights just revving his engine, which then made it stink! So then when the lights turned green he just stepped on it. When he went straight through the first light he fishtailed a little. Well when he turned left here to get on 405 he totally swerved off to the side but just kept on going. I couldn't even see him once I got onto 405. So I took one photo and my flash was on and it didn't turn out so I turned the flash off and took another one. Well I noticed after I took the 2nd photo that he had his hand out the window and was patting the top of his car. I don't know if he knew I took a photo or if he just thought it was summer...which it obviously isn't since you see snow on my hood! Anyway, I just found this guy to be ridiculous and totally unnecessary! Do you agree with me?

Life With New Grown-Up Furniture!

2009-02-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

So Ray and I had stopped by Underhill's Furniture a few weeks ago in Redmond since they were going out of business. I want a armoire for our TV in the bedroom but we saw a bed that we liked. The only problem was that it was black and we have brown/blue bedding. Well on Sunday we were bored so we went to the Bellevue location to see what they had. Well we found another pedastal bed that we liked. We knew we wanted a pedestal so we had extra storage since we wouldn't have room for a dresser as well. Well as we were thinking about it and walking around the store we saw this bed. Oh my goodness I fell in love. It is like a total 80's bed but it has so much storage space! The top above the bed has sliding doors with power available. Then the sides have the small shelves with three drawers on each end table. At the bottom of the bed are 3 more drawers! This bed is perfect since we don't have room for a dresser! The color is perfect for our bedding! The only problem is that the frames & bookshelf match the old furniture and not the new one...so I guess more shopping is to come. So this was just our treat to ourselves after paying off lots of bills! It was nice to get a treat for us! Now we just need to keep an eye out for a new mattress!

Life at 19 Weeks!

2009-02-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

Belly at 19 Weeks!

Baby's 1st Hippo from Gram-O

The closet is getting more full!

Ray's favorite onesie

Only $2.10!

Ray's great find! Hippo & a bird on a teeter-totter!

Such a cute onesie!

Look at that butt!! Isn't that just adorable!

Life With An Amazing Bank Account for a Day

2009-02-20T17:12:00.000-08:00

I just had to share with everyone the look of our bank account the day we got our tax refund. Also the day Ray got paid! I just wish our account always looked like that! Too bad it only lasted one day until we paid off bills!! Now it's back down to a normal number. :(

Life With A Killer Dog - Watch out Mailmen!

2009-02-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

So we went to Petsmart a couple of weeks ago and found this stuffed guy on the clearance aisle of Christmas stuff. We got it because he looked like a mailman and I thought it would be funny since we know 2 mailmen! So this is for Mike to see as well Holly! :) We took a couple of photos of Max destroying the toy like he enjoys doing!

So in other news...we enjoyed watching the Superbowl at Ray's mom's house and were very sad that the Cardinals lost.

I am now 4 months prego and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time at our last appt! I got a new doctor and I love him! He is so much better than the other one! He is friendly and very informative. He really seemed to care and wanted to help us since this is our first baby. He said we should sign up for classes now since they fill up quickly. We found a couple to take here in Issaquah. He recommened going to more bringing baby home classes than birthing classes which was great advice! I felt a small 'bump' type feeling from the inside of my stomach the other day, like I may have felt the first kick but I'm not too sure. The nurse said the baby was moving around a ton when we were listening to the heartbeat and that we would have a wild one! :) I said it was because my best friend was in labor and the baby was excited! :)

So Jessica got induced on Wednesday the 4th. She was in labor for 17 hours and pushed for 2.5 hours! They even had to use a vacuum! She gave birth to a beautiful 8 lb 5 oz baby boy named Isaac Joseph! Ray and I are the very proud godparents and so look forward to next Saturday when we get to meet him! We fly in on Valentine's Day and come home the 18th. Not a very long trip but all I could really do since it is just me and Courtney in the office right now.

We were very blessed to have a resident at my complex give us two buddy passes for our trip. We only had to pay $240 for both round-trip tickets! I am so very thankful to her and her help! It would've cost $800 for 2 round-trip tickets if we had purchased them ourselves!

We did our taxes and are very excited to be getting back $8700!! Thank God for the new home tax credit! We are paying off bills and saving! (well we also need some new clothes) It would've been nice to use it for a vacation but we need to pay our bills so we can have more money every month. :)

I just got over one of those nasty head colds that are going around. I didn't take any meds, only cough drops and water. I was pretty miserable and happy I am finally feeling better today!

Things at the new job are going well so far. Trying to really get units rented and it is really hard! I will probably need to lower prices tomorrow. I did have to write up an employee and we will be having to fire someone soon which will not be fun at all!

So that is most of my updates lately since I've been bad about posting. Hopefully will have some time soon to do some more!

Life at Random

2009-01-31T19:04:00.001-08:00

25 Random Things...
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I'm really wondering if I'm going to be able to think of 25 things about myself to share with everyone!

2. I have been needing to find myself an assistant and I get nervous for interviews! I'm the one doing the interviewing but it is still nerve-wracking! How do I know this person is for real and not just putting on a show for an interview. How do I know that they are really as great as they say they are? What type of questions do I ask to be sure of them? That is what has me procrastinating on calling anyone from the resumes I like.

3. I often dream of Ray and I being financially secure, both of us having cars we love, having a vacation home in Cannon Beach and traveling with friends. I just need to work on saving money instead of spending it to get there!

4. Since I have been pregnant I don't snore but I make noises in my sleep. Ray keeps laughing and telling me he is going to record me because it is funny. I think I'm just trying to talk and it just comes out as noises. Most of the time I remember the dreams and they are very detailed and I talk a lot in them.

5. I worry daily that something is wrong with the baby. I know the baby is fine and healthy but I still constantly worry that something is right with any sort of discomfort or pain I have. Which is pretty crazy since the whole 10 months of a pregnancy is full of discomfort!

6. I am always looking at new cars and new houses online, dreaming of what I could have one day. The next car we want is an Infiniti FX35...we found one at Good Chev but with the baby coming I don't think we can get another car. :( We have found an amazing house down the street from us here with an amazing backyard, 3 bedrooms, gorgeous kitchen, 2 car garage and jetted tub in the master bathroom. I don't know why I look at houses since we aren't moving anytime soon!

7. I am addicted to stupid shows...90210 (new and old shows), The Girls Next Door, One Tree Hill, American Idol and Samantha Who. These are all stupid according to Ray but I can't stop watching them even when I think there is horrible acting going on...I just can't stop scheduling them on the DVR!

8. I have no patience for rude or stupid people. I have been extremely aggravated at work lately because I have been pushed to my limit with stupid/lazy employees. There are also some residents that think they are the only ones there that matter and that our staff should cater to their every need! Some people are just so frustrating!

9. I am flying to Montana on February 14th to meet my first godson, Isaac! I am so super excited for Jess and Steve and I can't wait to meet the little guy! I've already spoiled him! I can't wait until our baby is here in 6 months and they can be best friends! And I'm already planning family vacations to Disneyland and the such for us and them! :)

10. My husband has been absolutely amazing since we found out I am prego! He is cooking most nights out of the week. He does all of the dirty dishes. He does all of the laundry, even my work clothes that hang dry! He takes Max out in the morning before work, when he gets home from work and later that night. I barely ever take him out, maybe on the weekends. He is amazing and I don't know what I would do without him! It is nice to come home after work and just relax since I am exhausted all the time! Right now I am listening to him trying to get our light fixtures off since we need to replace some bulbs and they WILL NOT come off! He is very frustrated with the light fixtures and even googled on how to get them off!

11. Ok, I've been working on this for days now and I'm seriously stuck. I don't know what someone wants to know about me!

12. I had to write someone up my 2nd week of my new job and it really sucked!

13. We got to hear the heartbeat of our baby for the first time at 4 months and it was amazing! The baby is an active one!

14. I made the most amazing lasagna lunch today for Ray's work. :) The cheesecake was one of the best I have ever made!

15. I have so many pet peeves it bugs even me! I wish I wasn't so anal sometimes!

16. As I've gotten older I have become friends with my mother. Never in a million years did I think that would happen but I actually enjoy spending time with her now. I don't think I'm as much of a daddy's girl anymore.

17. I have been dreaming for the last few months about getting a pedicure! Now with our tax refund I can get one for myself! My toes really need it!

18. I always have to have something sweet after dinner and before bed. My grandpa is the same way. Even if it is something little I just need a little something sweet to keep me satisfied.

19. I have an amazing resident that gave me two buddy passes so that Ray and I can fly into Billings to see our godson next weekend! If she hadn't helped us out the tickets would've been $400/each and Ray may not have been able to go!

20. Speaking of a tax refund...we are getting over $8000 back since we bought a house this year!!! It will be amazing to get bills paid off!

21. I'm really bad about taking notes in classes and when someone is talking to me but that is one of the most important things to my new boss to show that I am listening to her. I really need to work on listening and writing notes at the same time!

22. I have never smoked anything in my entire life. Mostly becuase I am allergic to cigarettes but I also never had any desire to smoke anything or do any drugs for that matter.

23. I haven't thrown up since I don't remember when. The only time I remember was being in the hospital and telling the nurse I needed more anti-nausea meds and I never got them so as soon as they got me out of bed I threw up.

24. I just ordered some cookie dough from Lupe's son and I want it right now!

25. I have the cutest dog ever! He is sitting on his blanket here in my office just looking at me. I love him!

I'm so glad I'm finally done!! wheewww

Life With Diamonds!

2009-01-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

My ring before!

So I have been having some problems with my engagement ring with the stones always coming loose and I haven't worn it since I was in Montana in October! So Helzberg has a re-styling event a couple of times a year so for my birthday Ray said we could go and get me a new ring! So we went last night and I found a beautiful setting for my diamond! So we took the center diamond out of my old ring and put it in the new one, resized (bigger for my pregnancy) and then resaudered the band to it! The stone looks much bigger in the new setting since it sits up higher than the res of the ring! I love it!!

Well when we picked out the new ring we were talking about what we were going to do with the other ring. The jeweler then recommened a couple of different colored stones to replace the center diamond. He showed me a purple stone called an Alexander that if it wasn't lab created would be about $30,000!!! WOW!!! It is a beautiful stone! It looks purple most of the time but in natural sunlight it looks teal! It is beautiful!

My jewelry box in the bathroom is looking so pretty with all my Helzberg boxes!! 4 of them from Christmas presents from Ray and then my two new rings! :) Am I spoiled or what?

Life With a New Office to Organize!!

2009-01-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

So I got the job here as Community Manager!!! Yeah me!!! I moved into my new office on Saturday and started cleaning it up right away! It took two days to get it organize and cleaned but it looks much better! I had two garbage cans full of trash and papers to recycle! I'm much more organized now and it looks more like a woman's office now! I have brought in a few personal items to make it my own but not too much yet. I'm thinking of bringing in my little radio to hook my ipod up so we can have some music in here! :)

I'm a little nervous to be the manager as it is a lot of responsibility and I'm scared of having to answer to Liz. ;-) I know I'll be fine but still nervous in a new position! So anytime you are in the area I would love to have you come by and visit me in my new space! :)

I forgot to take a photo before I started so this was mid-way through day 1.

Day 1

Starting Day 2

End of Day 2

My new office clean and organized!

I like a clean desk to come to everyday. :)

The view from my desk. I will be putting a collage in that frame, it is in the mail right now.

Behind my desk, my cute little area. :)

Life With the First Post of 2009!

2009-01-11T16:16:00.001-08:00

Wow! So I am a little behind the times here! I can't believe I haven't posted anything yet this year!! Happy New Year everyone! I am truly excited for 2009 with the coming of our little one! Things are going wonderfully with the pregnancy so far! I never throw up, even before my gall bladder surgery it was rare so it is nice to not have to deal with that everyday! I do get nauseous almost every day but last week I found something that actually helps, minty gum! I'm really not supposed to chew gum due to some problems with my jaw but I wanted a piece the other day and it took away my nausea! It was wonderful! Now I will bear through the jaw pain to feel better everyday! :) I'm already having problems fitting into my pants because everything is so uncomfortable I did already buy one pair of maternity jeans since jeans are very uncomfortable around the belly. The jeans are way too big though so I usually just wear them as lounging pants until I can grow into them. JCPenney and Old Navy have some really cute maternity clothes so I look forward to shopping there soon! :) I am 12 weeks right now and by Wednesday I am officially out of my 1st trimester! :) We have started working on the baby's room since it was such a disaster. I told Ray we should've taken a before and after photo of the room! We are trying to get a little bit in done in there every Sunday so it isn't overwhelming. Last week we rearranged our walk-in closet to allow more storage room for the Christmas boxes and the camping gear. I will be very excited once March comes and we can know what color we can paint! So there is a little update and a photo of my belly today at 12 weeks!

Life With Rock Band 2

2008-12-31T23:27:00.000-08:00

Life With a Very Merry Christmas

2008-12-29T11:15:00.000-08:00

Despite all of the snow we had for Christmas this year we got to do almost everything and everything was fun!

On Christmas Eve I had to work until 2 and most of the morning we all were out shoveling the parking lot of all the snow! After work Ray picked me up and we went over to my parent's house for dinner with the family! My dad got the wii fit for their wedding anniversary so everyone was enjoying playing that! My mom mad ham and scalloped potatoes AND a roast with mashed potatoes! She was a busy lady! Grandpa definitely gave Max lots of scraps of meat!! We had planned on going to the Christmas Eve service after dinner but it was cancelled

<div>Despite all of the snow we had for Christmas this year we got to do almost everything and everything was fun!</div> <div> </div> <div>On Christmas Eve I had to work until 2 and most of the morning we all were out shoveling the parking lot of all the snow! After work Ray picked me up and we went over to my parent's house for dinner with the family! My dad got the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">wii</span> fit for their wedding anniversary so everyone was enjoying playing that! My mom mad ham and scalloped potatoes AND a roast with mashed potatoes! She was a busy lady! Grandpa <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">definately</span> gave Max lots of scraps of meat!! We had planned on going to the Christmas Eve service after dinner but it was cancelled due to the snow. So we just went back home and tried to watch 'A Wonderful Life' but we were so tired we couldn't stay awake for the whole movie! </div> <div> </div> <div>On Christmas morning I woke up at 6:00am with HORRIBLE heartburn! So I ate some tums and tried to feel a little better. After feeding Max, Ray and I sat down and did our stockings and presents. I video taped Max getting his stocking since he sticks his head inside to get stuff out. This year he was having issues with getting stuff out so Daddy had to help. Ray had the super big 3 ft tall stocking this year since he wanted T-shirts & socks and I didn't want to wrap anymore! :) I got Ray a new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Seahawks</span> sweatshirt which he LOVES! He really needed one, the old one was getting so worn out. I also got him a new black <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Tatup</span> jersey and a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Wii</span> Fit! He had a pretty great Christmas! We actually had not planned on getting each other anything for Christmas since I got my new laptop and we got the new TV with sound system a few months ago but if I see something I know he will like I can't help it! :) Ray got me 2 necklaces and 2 sets of earrings! One is a pearl necklace with diamonds and matching earrings. He also got me a new set of diamond studs and a purple stone with diamonds necklace! He did a great job! :) I also got a lot of books! Yeah! I've already read 'Multiple <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Ble</span>8sings' by Jon & Kate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Gosselin</span> and gave it to my mom to read. I am now reading Gordon Ramsay's biography! Love it so far! :) </div> <div> </div> <div>After our Christmas morning we got ready and started making sure everything was clean since my parents, brother and grandparents were supposed to come over before going to Nancy's but since it was snowing so hard Nancy had us come over early. So we went over to Nancy's for the afternoon. There was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">soooo</span> much more snow up at their house than at ours! The snow came up to the bottom of the door on Ray's truck! Good thing he has 4 wheel drive! Since my parents didn't come over we had our own little Christmas in the other room. My parents gave both Ray and I money to buy our Montana plane tickets in February. Ryan got us some more <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">wii</span> games and Grandma Byram gave us money and Grandma & Grandpa gave us a Red Lobster gift card. I picked out a great purse for my mom that she loved! We got my dad a rock, chocolate covered raisins and new shoes. My brother got a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Seahawks</span> t-shirt and Huskies basketball shorts and a large container of Jelly Beans. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Leuenberger</span> kids got Rock Band 2 for Christmas so we all had fun with that! I got some great videos! :) We then all helped out getting ready for lunch...and there was a LOT to eat like always! :) </div> <div> </div> <div>One of the clocks at my aunt's house was wrong and so we were late getting over to Ray's moms but they were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">ok</span> with that. They had even more snow out in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Duvall</span> than Nancy had at her house up on the hill. They made a little trail up to their house through the yard so we could walk. We did stockings first from Mom and she got us some really great goodies! She got me a new Hippo ornament! It is a skiing hippo with fake eyelashes and all! :) She also got us these adorable homemade ornaments and the one of Ray and I made me cry! We got a lullaby bear for the baby that is super adorable! Shawna & Randy got us an Outback gift card, Ray a Best Buy gift card and me an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">itunes</span> gift card. Shawna also got me a hippo ornament, a hippo in a teeny red bikini! Also has fake eyelashes! So cute! We got Ray's mom a 12 man jersey and she LOVED it! She even put it on later that night! We got Shawna a Christmas mermaid ornament and a canvas tote bag with a photo of her kissing Max and Zack, it made her cry! :) We got Randy some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">CD's</span>, The Dark Knight and the old style Cougars calendar. It was a great Christmas for everyone! :) We had ham and scalloped potatoes for dinner! Yum yum!! We ended up staying the night since we were tired and didn't want to drive home in the snow. Ray, Max and I all shared a double bed but I slept pretty well. :) </div>

due to the snow. So we just went back home and tried to watch 'A Wonderful Life' but we were so tired we couldn't stay awake for the whole movie!

On Christmas morning I woke up at 6:00am with HORRIBLE heartburn! So I ate some tums and tried to feel a little better. After feeding Max, Ray and I sat down and did our stockings and presents. I video taped Max getting his stocking since he sticks his head inside to get stuff out. This year he was having issues with getting stuff out so Daddy had to help. Ray had the super big 3 ft tall stocking this year since he wanted T-shirts & socks and I didn't want to wrap anymore! :) I got Ray a new Seahawks sweatshirt which he LOVES! He really needed one, the old one was getting so worn out. I also got him a new black Tatupu jersey and a Wii Fit! He had a pretty great Christmas! We actually had not planned on getting each other anything for Christmas since I got my new laptop and we got the new TV with sound system a few months ago but if I see something I know he will like I can't help it! :) Ray got me 2 necklaces and 2 sets of earrings! One is a pearl necklace with diamonds and matching earrings. He also got me a new set of diamond studs and a purple stone with diamonds necklace! He did a great job! :) I also got a lot of books! Yeah! I've already read 'Multiple Ble8sings' by Jon & Kate Gosselin and gave it to my mom to read. I am now reading Gordon Ramsay's biography! Love it so far! :)

After our Christmas morning we got ready and started making sure everything was clean since my parents, brother and grandparents were supposed to come over before going to Nancy's but since it was snowing so hard Nancy had us come over early. So we went over to Nancy's for the afternoon. There was soooo much more snow up at their house than at ours! The snow came up to the bottom of the door on Ray's truck! Good thing he has 4 wheel drive! Since my parents didn't come over we had our own little Christmas in the other room. My parents gave both Ray and I money to buy our Montana plane tickets in February. Ryan got us some more wii games and Grandma Byram gave us money and Grandma & Grandpa gave us a Red Lobster gift card. I picked out a great purse for my mom that she loved! We got my dad a rock, chocolate covered raisins and new shoes. My brother got a Seahawks t-shirt and Huskies basketball shorts and a large container of Jelly Beans. The Leuenberger kids got Rock Band 2 for Christmas so we all had fun with that! I got some great videos! :) We then all helped out getting ready for lunch...and there was a LOT to eat like always! :)

One of the clocks at my aunt's house was wrong and so we were late getting over to Ray's moms but they were ok with that. They had even more snow out in Duvall than Nancy had at her house up on the hill. They made a little trail up to their house through the yard so we could walk. We did stockings first from Mom and she got us some really great goodies! She got me a new Hippo ornament! It is a skiing hippo with fake eyelashes and all! :) She also got us these adorable homemade ornaments and the one of Ray and I made me cry! We got a lullaby bear for the baby that is super adorable! Shawna & Randy got us an Outback gift card, Ray a Best Buy gift card and me an itunes gift card. Shawna also got me a hippo ornament, a hippo in a teeny red bikini! Also has fake eyelashes! So cute! We got Ray's mom a 12 man jersey and she LOVED it! She even put it on later that night! We got Shawna a Christmas mermaid ornament and a canvas tote bag with a photo of her kissing Max and Zack, it made her cry! :) We got Randy some CD's, The Dark Knight and the old style Cougars calendar. It was a great Christmas for everyone! :) We had ham and scalloped potatoes for dinner! Yum yum!! We ended up staying the night since we were tired and didn't want to drive home in the snow. Ray, Max and I all shared a double bed but I slept pretty well. :)

Life With More Snow Photos!

2008-12-21T17:25:00.000-08:00

Our 'us' picture in the snow!
Ray's truck had a snow drift in the back

Me and Max on a walk

Mine and Courtney's name in the snow

My snow angel

Making my snow angel

Courtney's snow angel

Courtney making her angel

Our snow angels!

Bird tracks